The Unexpected ATLA
by Naomi loves Calvin and Hobbes
Summary: Ok, I'm Zuko Sozin, and I'm officially screwed, again. And my girlfriend's family is probably going to kill me—literally. After all, these probably will be my last words: My girlfriend is pregnant.
1. Chapter 1

*****DISCLAIMER* I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender or any of the characters and other things...  
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**Ages  
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**Zuko: 23  
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**Katara: 22  
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**Sokka: 23  
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**Toph: 21  
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**Aang: 21  
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**Suki: 23  
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**Jet: 23  
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**Mai: 23**

**Haru: 22**

***JLYK- just letting you know-some one these characters might not come into the story for a couple chapter. And there are other characters that I didn't mention that will be in there.  
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**...  
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**Chapter 1  
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**Zuko's POV**

Ok, I'm Zuko Sozin, and I'm officially screwed, again. And my girlfriend's family is probably going to kill me—literally.

Katara's dad is usually pretty cool. He's usually relaxed about me, and let's me do basically whatever I want. He treats me like family.

And now he is going to flat out kill me.

You might think I'm crazy, and maybe I am. Well, crazy for not being careful. You might think I'm raving, and maybe I am. After all, these probably will be my last words:

My girlfriend is pregnant.

First it was the fact that I've known Katara Marine since preschool; though, I never thought of anything like this happening. I mean, Katara was always the straight-edge walking, goody-two-shoes, and I was always the sort of "bad boy" type of guy, and here she was having sex with me and then getting pregnant. Yeah, you can definitely say that I was her "reputation ruiner". Did I tell you that she was a straight A student…

But it was a party, and it was graduation! I know in health class, in my sophomore year of high school, we learned about drinking, abstinence, and pressuring people to do things they don't want to do and all that jazz. But I've always been 'no pressure' on Katara. I didn't pressure her into sex. But the drinking thing…too much really does an adjustment to your body. So kids, don't drink, at least, not too much. But if you can, try to not do it all because it can lead to consequences. I learned my lesson...

Anyway, about a half a month later after the "incident", Katara called me to meet her at our favorite restaurant: Olive Garden. She seemed kinda out of it, like, she was mad at me for some reason. And that got me a tiny bit worried.

I quickly hurried over to the restaurant and met her at a table outside. I gave her one of my biggest hugs and sat down next to her. She looked very uninterested and barely held conversation with me, which was weird because she always talked, and I mean always.

We ordered our food. And I started to make conversation. "So, Kat, what did you think about Sokka's new…"

She rose up her hand, cutting me off, "Look Zuko, I got something to tell you."

I sipped at my drink. "What? Did you not like your brothers…?"

"Can you just listen to me?"

I hesitated. "Sorry, sorry, go ahead…"

She sighed, trying to calm herself down. "Zuko, I'm pregnant."

I won't lie to you; I fell out my chair.

When I came around, images were already flashing into my head: me getting scolded and maybe even beat up by her father, getting scolded by my dad and uncle and probably even put out of the house by my dad who doesn't even live with me.

When we told them, Katara was crying a river. She couldn't even bare to tell them what had happened between us. She was nervous and quite embarrassed. And let's not even get started on what I felt like during the whole dramatization. I mean, I was the one to get her pregnant. But then again, it takes two to tango.

As you already know, I got fussed at by my padres and she got fussed at by her padre and vice versa.

But now that all that jazz is over, Katara had the baby. It was pretty painful, for her at least. Yeah, and so far it is going pretty swell.

...

Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

I quickly dodged out of the way, as my daughter Paxton flew over me. Yeah, Paxton was the name of my 5 year old. Paxton Gabriella Sozin. And yes, she took _my_ last name.

You would've thought that her name would be something dealing with Zuko or Katara, but I wanted something that wasn't as common. But then again, Katara wanted that name, and I just agreed to it.

"Daddy, I want to get on top of your shoulders," she said with a big smile from ear to ear. "Please."

"Now right now, Pax," I said, kissing her cheek.

I sighed. Having a child is very hard on you. You have to take time with them and help them with things. I'm not mad that Katara and I brought Paxton into the world. I mean, I love Paxton, but now as a 23 year old non-married guy with a 22 year old girlfriend, it's kind of something I regret. I wish that I would've thought before doing something I shouldn't have done.

Paxton started to jump on the couch. "Paxton…" I started.

Katara walked into the family room. "Your father is being difficult, Pax. I just called Chen to see if they would come over. He should be here in a couple minutes."

Paxton jumped on top of my leg and bounced. Chen was my best friend, Jet, adoptive son. He was Paxton's "play date" I guess you could say. She loved playing with him. Even though Chen was six, he still liked playing with my five year old.

"And, some of my friends are coming over today, Zuko," Katara said to me, raising her eyebrow.

"How many exactly?" I asked, looking at her.

"A few."

I grunted, trying to find something on TV good to watch. I stopped once the basketball game plopped onto the screen.

"Mommy, Daddy," Paxton said.

"Paxton?" I said annoyed.

"I want another brother or sister."

Katara and I both looked at each other then at Paxton. What in the world made her think of that?

"Why do you want another sibling, Pax?" I asked after a long silence.

Paxton shrugged, "I want one. I want one really badly. Everyone in school has a brother or sister. If I had a younger sibling, then we could play together all day! Please, please, please, please, Daddy? Please, please, please?"

"Pax, having a baby is more…complicated than you think," Katara muttered to Paxton as she bounced on the couch. "And having a baby around is a lot of work, too. Your father and I weren't even thinking about having another kid soon."

"I don't care if it is a boy! I just want another sibling," Katara and I exchanged glances.

I looked over at Katara, who shrugged guiltily. "We'll think about it honey."

Paxton paused before she spoke again, "So, where are you going to get it at? Please tell me you guys are going to get it at the Toys Department, because that would be so cool if I got to pick it out!"

I raised my eyebrows and sighed. "Uh, Pax, babies don't come from stores."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Katara shift uncomfortably on the couch. I guess she was thinking the same thing as me. When was this topic going to change?

"You make them with daddy?" she asked brightly.

"Who told you that daddy and I make babies?" Katara asked, trying to make the topic a laughing matter.

Paxton turned from the TV to look at us, "Uncle Jet and Uncle Aang were talking about it the other day. Jet said something about screwing some girl. What does screwing mean? Is it some kind of tool?"

Just to let you know, "Uncle" Jet and "Uncle" Aang is my best friend's from high school. They are not related to us at all.

I frowned. Jet and Aang were trying to mess my little girls mind already at age five. I was going to have to have a little chat with them once they got here.

On the other hand, Katara was taking this to a whole different level. She was angry.

The doorbell rang. I looked out the window and saw Jet's truck out the window. He was holding Chen's hand.

Paxton ran up and opened the door and hugged Jet, "Hi Chen and Uncle Jet."

Jet picked up Paxton and hugged her. Chen grabbed Paxton's hand and squeezed it softly.

"Pax, why don't you and Chen play in your room?" Katara said to Paxton, running her hand through her hair.

"Ok." Paxton took Chen's hand and they went running towards the play room.

We both turned to look at Jet.

"What's up with you guys?" he asked, sitting down on the couch.

"What's up? What's up with you? You're telling my daughter about you screwing someone?" Katara said angrily.

"You PMS-ing?" Jet looked confused.

"Shut up, Jet! Pax told us that you were talking with Aang about screwing some girl. Why were you telling her this?"

"She came into the conversation, Katara," Jet said innocently, "and it was Aang talking about the girl. Besides, what was I supposed to do, stop talking?"

"I doubt if it was Aang, Jet," Katara said, putting her hand on her hips. "And yes, you were supposed to stop."

"Sorry," Jet stated.

The doorbell rang again. I opened it and saw my good friend, the Blind Bandit: Toph.

"So, what's up with you?" Toph said to Katara.

Katara and I told her what had happened.

"Wow, Jet, that's one way to teach a kid," Toph said sarcastically.

"It wasn't my fault," Jet said defensively. "Paxton shouldn't have come in on the conversation."

The doorbell rang and another person came inside. It was Suki.

"Ok, we're going to be getting ready for the baby shower," Katara said to us, but mainly the girls.

"Whoa, what baby shower are we talking about?" I asked cautiously.

Katara frowned at me. "Not _we_, Zuko. You have nothing to do with this. I'll meet you girls in the kitchen."

All of the girls went into the kitchen, hesitantly, waiting to see what was going to happen. They went into the kitchen after I didn't say anything.

I smiled and kissed her on her lips softly. "I don't remember you telling me anything like that, Katara. I think I was too caught up with you last night to even think about anything but you."

I heard Jet make an ooh noise. He smiled and gave me a knuckle bump, which Katara frowned on.

"Well," Katara said softly, wrapping her arms around my neck, "If you would've been listening, then maybe you would've known about it."

And with that she trudged off into the kitchen.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Daddy, can Chen stay over tonight?" Paxton pleaded once Katara was done with her baby shower committee.

"Please, can I stay, dad," Chen said to Jet.

Jet sighed. "Since he has school tomorrow you guys can just take them to school together. It's fine with me."

"That's because you're not the one's taking them to school," I mumbled, Katara hit me on my arm.

"Ok, you guys can stay," Katara smiled. I frowned. Katara always had to be the nice guy.

Chen said his goodbyes to his dad and Jet left out of the door. It seemed rather quickly.

"What are you guys going to do?" I said, bending over to the two kids.

"We have to bring something for show and tell tomorrow for school," Paxton said. "It has to be interesting so we might do a video."

"We were thinking of doing a squirrel getting run over in the street," Chen said with a cheesy smile.

Paxton frowned. I laughed. It was a typical boy to say something like that.

"And how are you guys going to do a video?" Katara said, running her hand through Paxton's hair. "Do you guys have a video camera?"

Paxton nodded sweetly. "Daddy said that I could borrow the one in the main closet for my project."

"No, Daddy did not say that?" Katara turned towards me. "You mean _my_ video camera that _I _bought with _my_ money last weekend."

My eyes widened. "No, Katara, the other one?"

Katara raised her eyebrow and walked out of the kitchen and into the family room. She seemed a little annoyed by me today. I was going to have to work extra hard if I wanted to please her. And you knew what meant…

I reached up in the closet and grabbed my camera I got for my 20th birthday three years ago.

"Here," I said giving it to Chan. "And please, don't drop it."

"We won't," they said running off.

I went into the family room and saw Katara watching TV. She was watching CSI. She didn't look at me. I sighed and sat next to her.

"Are you mad at me?" I asked, not looking at her. "If you are, I'll leave and wait until you are ok."

I waited for her to answer. But after some time, she didn't, I stood and started to walk away. She put her hand on my arm for me to stop.

"Wait," she said, looking at me.

I turned around and looked at her. She seemed sad. I sat next to her on the couch and put my arm around her.

"What's up?" I asked her. "Please, don't tell me it's that time of the month again."

She rolled her eyes and frowned. "No, It's just…It's been so hard. And now, it's overbearing. I don't know what to do."

"Whoa, you're freaking me out." I stared at her. "What do you mean, Kat?"

Right after I said that, she started spill out her feelings. Yeah, and that included tears.

"Our lives," her voice cracked. "We are bad parents. We are trying to keep our house, and maintain a healthy family. I was 17 and you were 18 when we had Paxton, now look at us."

I quickly glanced down at myself and looked back up at her. I don't know about her, but I looked pretty fly.

"And now, I don't know what to do," she cried. She continued, "We are…"

I quickly kissed her to make her stop talking. It worked.

I broke away from her and wiped her face with the back of my hand. "Everything is going to be fine as long as I'm with you."

I leaned into for another kiss. This time more passionately than the first. I leaned back on her, making her back fall onto the couch. I fell on top of her and relaxed into her. I pushed her deeper into the couch, not entirely crushing her with my weight, but by supporting myself with my arms.

I divided my lips gradually, allowing her access into my mouth. I put my hand under her shirt and caressed her stomach, going higher and higher with each touch, pulling her shirt up slowly. A soft moan escaped her mouth.

I took off my shirt, and she put her hands onto my abs rubbing gently from my chest down to my abs. I moaned and lifted up her shirt more.

Right then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw some movement. I realized who it was: Paxton and Chen. They were recording us for there interesting show and tell. And it was about to get interesting…

I jumped off the couch and ran towards them, blocking their way up the steps to avoid me.

"What the—heck are you guys doing?" I asked, angered.

"We were recording something interesting, Daddy," Paxton said innocently. "We were looking at some bees on a flower, but came downstairs and saw you on top of Mommy."

I sighed and put my hand over my face and grunted.

"What wrong?" Katara said, walking over to me straightening her shirt. She handed me my shirt. I looked at it embarrassedly, but slipped it on.

I looked at her grimly, "They saw us on the couch."

I her eye twitch slightly, "Oh, I was trying to help you with mouth to mouth resuscitation, right Zuko?"

I scoffed, "Sure."

"You mean CPR?" Paxton said opened mouth. She looked over at Chen who was still in awe. "Chen, let's try it."

I grabbed Paxton before she could even touch Chen. "Not today you guys."

"Yeah, not in a while," Katara said.

"Not until you are 20."

"25."

"40."

"Forty is a long time from now, Mommy," Paxton said sadly. "I really want to do it."

"Yeah, and you end up doing it and then something happens and you have a kid to take care of because you did the wrong thing at the wrong time."

The three children looked confused, but hey, I knew what I was talking about.

"What are you talking about, daddy?" Paxton said.

"Nothing, Pax," Katara said eying me.

...

Please read and review. Story get's better as you read through it..


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Katara and I cleaned up the dishes that the kids left over from eating dinner.

"So, do you think that the kids believed what I told them?" Katara asked. "You know, about the CPR thing?"

I smirked and kissed her gently on her lips, "I think they did."

She smiled and kissed me back lustfully, but then she put her hand on my chest to stop me. I looked at her disappointed.

"How about we go somewhere more private to do this?" She said, walking up the stairs.

I nodded chasing after her up the stairs.

You know when you have someone you really just love, and can't stand to not be by there side? Well, that is how I feel about Katara. I truly love her so much. I would do anything and everything for her just to make her happy.

**Katara's POV**

Before I could even make it up the steps, it felt like something was wrong. I couldn't hear the kids playing or talking or doing anything. It was weird. Then, I saw it; the reason why there was abrupt silence.

Paxton was standing and had her pants and underwear off and Chen was basically right under her legs. And here's the part that really got me, Chen had his fingers, not _finger_, but fingers with an s, on her, you know, private parts. He was basically fingering her except he wasn't actually inside of her if you know what I mean. He was just touching her, which I still thought was strongly inappropriate for their age.

Zuko bumped into me as he was running after me. I turned towards him and frowned. I pointed to Paxton's room, and his seductive smile turned into an angry frown.

We quickly went into the room and I grabbed Paxton from Chen's "grasp", and Zuko grabbed Chen. Paxton, startled by me coming into the room, yelped once I grabbed her.

I looked at her. A five year old already getting into sexual activity. Why did it have to be my child? But then again, she would probably be trying to sneak and do something with some guy when she gets into her teens…like I did, and look what happened to me. That's exactly why I don't want her doing anything.

"What were you two doing?" Zuko asked furious. And I thought that I was angry, he was extremely mad.

The two kids shuddered as Zuko talked. They realized that they didn't know what they were doing.

"I was just showing Chen…" Paxton started, she was starting to cry.

Zuko held up his hand to make her stop talking. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed out of exasperation. He faced the wall and hit it with his fist. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the two children flinch.

"Do you know what this could've leaded to?" he continued. They shook their head, confused.

"Was it something bad?" Chen asked innocently.

Zuko raised his hand angrily, but I quickly meddled in. "What you guys were doing was very inappropriate."

"So very inappropriate," Zuko agreed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Why?" Paxton asked.

I looked at her seeing if I could explain it without adding anything that would be "hurtful" to young ears.

"That doesn't matter," Zuko said ignoring what Paxton had said. He seemed a little calmed down. "You guys are in big trouble. Chen, I'm telling your father to come pick you up, and Pax, your mom is going to talk to you."

I turned to him. "Me?" I turned my back on the kids and looked at him. "What am I going to talk to her about? She's only five."

He grunted. "And that five year old just got attacked by a seven year old boy."

"She didn't get attacked, Zuko," I said, crossing my arms.

"Well, I know it wasn't a bear hug," He said, motioning Chen to come down stairs. He continued to talk, "Soon he'll be wondering what "eat her out" and "hand job" means. And then they'll be doing that."

I walked back into the room. Pax had her head down and was sitting on the floor toying with her pants that she had put back on. I sighed; this was going to be a long talk.

**Zuko's POV**

I called Jet to come by and pick up Chen. He was kinda annoyed when I called him. He said that he was watching the basketball game and didn't want to miss it. But I told him that it was something dealing with Chen, and he immediately hung up. I frowned at the phone wondering if he was actually coming or was he still at home watching TV. My question was answered when five minutes later Jet came at the door.

"What happened?" Jet said. "Is everything alright?"

I sighed and motioned him to sit down next to him. I looked at Jet and started telling him about what happened.

Chen started to cry. I looked over at Jet and saw his face turn into an angry frown. This was the first time I have ever saw Jet actually get angry. And I thought I was mad.

Jet stood up and told Chen to stand up, "I'm so disappointed with you, Chen. I can't even look at you. What were you thinking? You're in big trouble, young man."

"But dad…" Chen said, crying again.

"Ah, don't look at me," Jet said, pushing Chen's head. Jet gave Chen the keys and said, "Go to the car. I'll meet you there."

"Sorry man," Jet said, flopping onto the couch. "My little boy is already trying to grow up too fast."

"Yeah, and on my daughter," I said annoyed.

He twirled a toothpick around in his mouth, "Wouldn't that be funny if the same thing that happened to you and Katara happened to Chen and Paxton," He said smirking.

I laughed dryly, "Yeah, really funny, Jet," I said sarcastically.

He grunted. "Well, I'll see you later, man."

I nodded my head and watched him leave. Before he even went to the car, I could hear him fussing at Chen.

I closed the door and flopped on the couch tiredly. I rubbed my hand over my face and sighed. This was a long day.

I few minutes later I saw Katara come down the stairs. She had on a blank expression that I couldn't read.

"What happened with you and Pax?" I asked interested. "Did you get into all the details?"

She sat on the arm of the couch, "No, I just told her that what she was doing was wrong and that you would decide when to deal with her."

I rubbed my hands together pleasurably, "Oh, I got a couple sticks in the yard I can tussle onto her. What'd you think?"

She shrugged. "I don't care, ok. I'm going to bed, Zuko. I'm too tired to think of anything right now. And right now, I'm kind of in shock."

She stood up, but I grabbed her arm from going anywhere. "But I thought that we were going to have some F.U.N today? You know SpongeBob: _F is for fond-a-ling with my girlfriend, U is for you loving me, N is for no protection_—"

"Zuko," She said, cutting me off. She rolled her eyes in annoyance and sighed. "I just gave Paxton a big scolding and I told her to go to bed. I don't feel like doing anything right now."

I let go of her arm and she started to walk upstairs.

"Well, can we at least make out for 7 minutes?" I asked pleading.

"Whatever," She said sighing, still going up the steps not turning around.

I smiled and raced up the steps towards her. She ran away making me have to chase her. Oh, I love having a girlfriend.

...

R&R


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Katara's POV**

I woke up at about 8:30 am about to take Paxton to school. I sighed and got out of the bed. I frowned as Zuko took over the whole bed, placing his arms where I laid. This was his off day from work so he got to sleep in today.

He opened one eye and turned to look at me, "You going already, babe?"

I nodded and went into the bathroom to brush my teeth, "It's not like you were going to take Pax. I mean if you are, you can take her."

I shook his head quickly and went back to sleep, "I'm good. See you later."

I put on my clothes and walked downstairs. Paxton was watching TV in the family room eating a pancake she warmed up in the microwave.

"Come on, Pax," I said. "Let's get ready to go."

We walked out of the house and walked to the school. I sighed. Today would be the day where Paxton would see Chen again. I know that Paxton didn't care, but I surely did. I slowed down my walking.

"Mommy, are you ok," Paxton asked me.

I sighed to myself, "Yeah, honey, I'm just a little tired."

I grabbed her hand and we crossed the street, going a few blocks down towards the school. A gave her backpack to her, and we started walking inside of the school.

"Paxton?" I said to her.

"Yeah?"

We stopped at the class room door. "Please don't do anything stupid in class today with anyone."

She looked at me innocently, "What do you mean?"

I looked inside the class room and saw Jet and Chen in the corner talking with Miss Lana, the teacher.

"Are you talking about the thing you and daddy were doing on the couch yesterday?" Paxton asked.

I winced frowning. She still remembered that?

"How about we keep that to ourselves, Pax," I said to her.

She nodded, hugging me, and went into the classroom and Jet came out. He nodded at me.

"So, you get everything cleared up with Chen?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "Nah, he still is in trouble. If Lin was here, she would have a fit."

I smiled. Lin was Jet's wife. She died last year in a horrific car accident.

Jet laughed. "I can't believe he did that. I mean, where did he learn to do that? I know he didn't get it from me."

He stared at me for a vague moment as if I had something to do with it.

I frowned. "Uh…Why are you looking at me? Zuko and I make sure that the door is closed before we do anything."

He grunted. "Sure. You want to go out for brunch with me?"

I raised my eyebrow, "Me to brunch. I'm impressed, but no. Zuko will get all 'you're cheating on me'. You know he has those domination issues."

He shrugged his shoulders and smiled, "Yeah, like I would want to cheat with my ex-girlfriend who's with my best friend. And besides, this is coming on friendly."

I sighed, "Ok."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Going out with Jet, was like when we were back in high school. He had the same laugh and same stupid jokes he told when we were dating.

When he brought me home, I was kinda disappointed when we had to leave.

"Yeah, and remember Claude Benson in sixth grade?" Jet said laughing.

I laughed loudly. "Of course I can. How could I forget the guy who tried to ask me to the spring dance, then throwing up on my dress because he had too much punch?"

Jet laughed louder and put his hand on his knees. "And remember that guy Phil? You went with him to the eighth grade graduation dance."

I nodded. "I was dancing, and he got a boner. I felt so sorry for him. He ran out of the gym so embarrassed."

Jet wiped his eyes and held his stomach, breathing heavily, "Man, those were some good times. And remember our kiss freshman year? That was so humiliating."

I burst out laughing, "Hey, you're the one who said that making out in the hallway near the lockers would be a good thing. It would make us look cool."

He rose up his hands, "It was."

I scoffed. "Yeah, until you started feeling on me and the teacher caught us on the floor."

He stifled a laugh, "Good thing no one was around besides that teacher."

"That was the worst part," I said. "We're lucky that he only told us to go to class."

He gave me one of his cool looks, "You're telling me you didn't enjoy it?"

I grunted. "I was young and naïve and didn't know what else to do with my life. You were the only thing important in my life, besides track, that is."

He smiled. There was a small silence before he spoke again. "Well, I'll see you later, Katara. We've been out here talking longer than 20 minutes. I think that's a new record for me."

I stared at him blankly and said sarcastically. "That's a long time."

He frowned and stared at me. His brown eyes looked as though they were looking right through me.

"What?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

He shook his head. "Just seeing how more beautiful you've gotten over the years I've known you."

I stepped towards him and poked him in the chest, "You know how Zuko would feel about you saying that?"

He smiled and took a step towards me. He shrugged, "What about it?"

"He might feel uncomfortable about this," I said, stepping back nervously.

"Is it him that might be nervous, or is it you?" He said, stepping towards me pushing me to the back of the front door.

"I'm…" I started.

"Not married yet," He said, stepping away from me finishing my sentence, even though I wasn't going to say that. "Later," he said smirking, taking a step down off the steps.

And with that he walked away to his car leaving me in my trance of confusion and humiliation.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**Katara's POV**

I walked in the house and belly flopped onto the couch. Why did every boy I know want to be with me? Maybe that's why Paxton got so much attention from the little boys; it was because I was a slutty mom.

Zuko came up from the basement holding a Gatorade bottle. He had his shirt off and had on some black basketball shorts.

He nodded towards me and kissed me on my cheek. "Hey. I just got done with weight lifting. Feel my bicep."

I pressed on his bicep and smiled. "You're pretty strong." I went lower and felt his abs, also impressed. "Been doing sit ups?"

"I've been doing pushups as well." He said proudly, smiling at me. "Want me to show you how strong I am?"

I raised an eyebrow, "How are you going to do that, by picking me up?"

He shook his head. "Nah, we'll see what happens."

He leaned in to kiss me. I helplessly closed my eyes and melted into his kiss. He parted his mouth slightly allowing my tongue entrance. Then, without realization, he pushed me against the wall.

His bare chest pushed up against me as he kissed my neck. With his free hand he slowly started to pull up my shirt off, and then the phone rang. Grunting, I looked on the number to see who it was. It was Springdale Pre-school. I answered the phone.

"Hello?" I said.

"Is this Miss Marine, Paxton's mother?" the voice said.

"Yes, this is she."

I heard her sigh on the phone. "I'm Principle Daley. Your daughter, Paxton, has done the most incongruous thing I have ever seen a five year old do!"

She sounded a little angry. And she was using big words at that.

"Uh…"

"Incongruous means inappropriate, Miss Marine," the lady said annoyed.

"What did she do?" I leaned on the sink.

"Oh, you come see for yourself, Miss Marine," she said icily. "And bring Mr. Sozin as well, please. This is something you both need to see for yourself."

And with that, she hung up. I frowned. Why'd it always had to be our kids with the problems? For once, couldn't it be someone else for a change.

I walked back over to Zuko. He gave a small smile.

"What happened?"

I sighed. "Paxton got in trouble at the school. They want us to go up there for a meeting I guess."

He blew a sigh and grabbed a shirt from out of the dryer. He grabbed the keys from the door and opened it.

"Let's go."

As we made it up to the school, I had a bad feeling that whatever Paxton had done was our fought.

I opened my car door and got out. Zuko wrapped his arm around my shoulder nudging my ear with his lips. I laughed, pushing him off of me. We walked into the school looking for the principles office.

Then there was the sign on the door that said: PRINCIPLE. I swallowed nervously and we walked in.

Sitting in front of us was Paxton and the principle. Paxton had her head down and she looked like she had been crying. But what really had got me was what was sitting on the table. It was the camcorder that Paxton used to record for her show and tell project. This wasn't good.

**Zuko's POV**

And then I saw it, the camcorder Paxton used to record for her show and tell project. I looked over at Katara who was slowly starting to sit down. I sat next to Paxton, who was in the middle.

"Hello, I am Principle Daley, but you've been here so many times you should already know me," she said blankly.

"So, why are we here?" I asked.

"Paxton has been a naughty girl," she looked at her. "She caught something inappropriate on camcorder and brought it for her show and tell."

I saw Katara fidget nervously in the seat. I knew I should've taken Paxton to school today.

But then again it could be something else. "What exactly is on the camcorder?"

Katara kicked me in the shin. "Whatever is on there, we will make sure it is coped with appropriately, Principle Daley."

She managed a fake smile. "However, I think that whatever she is getting this from starts in the home. So please, don't let it get caught again."

My eyes widened. "Uh…what do you mean?"

"You may want to cover your daughter's ears for this," she said plainly. Katara frowned, but put her hand over Paxton's ears. She continued. "Since you guys like to have…copulations with each other, I presume that you should get a room and make sure the door is locked. You shouldn't be going around everywhere and taking off each others clothes anywhere you want! You never know who could be watching. And apparently, your daughter was this time."

I was speechless. How could this lady get so much into our business like that? I mean, did she see the tape?

Katara let go of Paxton's ears and frowned. "Ok, that was unnecessary."

I agreed.

The principle sighed, "If you don't control your daughter, she will be hard to control when she gets older. And you will not be able to control her because she is already grown with a child of her own to take care of!"

The principle was mainly talking to Katara. I saw her blush.

"There will be guys asking for her and falling for her," she continued, looking at me. "If you don't control your daughter, she will end up like you guys. An unmarried couple with a daughter you can't control."

Ok, that was it. It was time to show who really had the power. "Excuse me, but you can't just go about talking about us and spreading our business. I don't appreciate you doing that. We are sorry about the whole dilemma, but you don't have to _come_ up and blow it all in our faces."

She was silent. "You need to get a life and keep your secret life behind the door where it should be." She said pointing to Katara. "You guys need to stop screwing around."

Katara stood up and looked over at me. She gave me the "did she just say that to me" look. I quickly covered Paxton's ears before she could hear any of Katara's "crude" words. And actually, a few were quiet creative, actually.

Katara rarely swore, almost never. Katara would use different words instead of the real word, like, freak for…you know. But this was one of those times where it was warranted even of the pope. And when she did swear, she would kill you with every word.

Then, it all happened. The principle pushed Katara back and told her to sit back down, but Katara, on the other hand, didn't want to and pushed her back. Then a whole fight broke out. The principle punched Katara in the nose making her nose bleed, and Katara punched the teacher in the gut.

A police officer came through the door (who I guess was the day watcher or whatever) as I tried to push Katara off the principle. She fought back as I grabbed her, from her waist. The police officer did the same thing and looked at us.

"Is this the example you are setting for you kid?" he said, pointing to Paxton. He was a black man who seemed like a nice guy until someone messed with him.

I grabbed some tissue and held Katara's nose up to stop the bleeding. Paxton looked at us with worried looks.

"Everything is going to be okay, Pax," I said to her. "Go sit out in the hallway as we get things settled."

She nodded quickly and rushed out of the office. I turned to look at the principle that had her hands on her knees and she was bent over breathing heavily. I guess that punch did a little damage. Score 1 for team Marine.

"Now, can one of you explain what happened?" he said calmly.

"I'll tell you," Katara said, breathing heavily. "That lady just fummph."

I covered her mouth before she said anything inappropriate to the officer. "Officer, things just got out of hand with the two and they started to fight. We are sorry."

The officer nodded and smiled. "Honest. I like that. You may leave. I know that she didn't hit Mrs. Daley first. I understand exactly what happened. Have a nice day."

I was startled but followed his orders, grabbing the camera, and walked out of the room.

I motioned to Paxton and she stood up. We walked to the car "Mommy, are you going to be ok?"

Katara closed her eyes and got into the car. "I don't want to talk about it right now, Paxton."

I gave Katara more tissue and buckled Paxton in her car seat. It was going to be rough once I got home.

Once we got to our house. I heard Katara slam the door and go into the house. I sighed and pulled Paxton out of the car from her car seat.

"Is she mad at me?" Pax asked.

I shrugged. "Who knows? You shouldn't have brought that camera to school, Pax. That was wrong."

She lowered her head. "I'm sorry, Daddy. I never thought…" she faded out.

I kissed her forehead and grabbed her back pack. "It's going to take a lot of cheering up to cheer up your mom, Pax. Do you think I can do it?"

"If you do the same thing I saw on the camera," Paxton said in deep thought. "She seemed happy there."

I looked at her and frowned. "Paxton, promise me you will never speak of that to anyone again. And try to get that out of your memory, okay?"

She nodded. "Sorry."

We walked into the house, and Katara was in the kitchen sitting down. She was tapping her finger annoyingly on the table. I told Paxton to go to her room.

I went over to Katara and sat down next to her.

"You feeling any better," I flinched as she looked over towards me.

"What do you think?" she spat. "The Principle just, basically, called me a slut in front of my own daughter. How would you feel?"

"Oh." Strike one.

"I mean, she calls me a slut, and then she talks about our "copulations" like its some toy," Katara said angrily. "Who does she think she is?"

"She's the principle, Katara," I said.

"I don't care who the…" her voice was muffled as she put her head down on the table.

"I'm sorry that you fell like that," I said, rubbing her back. She turned around and hugged me, sobbing softly on my shoulder. I patter the back of her head.

A knock on the door interrupted our conversation. I opened the door. It was Toph, again. She smiled and walked in quickly.

"You ready to go, Katara?" she asked, twirling her keys on her fingers.

I frowned. "Where are _we_ going?"

Toph turned to me and looked at me. "_You_ aren't going anywhere. Katara and I are having our GNO."

I scrunched my nose is confusion. "A gynecologist—"

"No," she said, cutting me off. "We're having a girl's night out, Zuko, duh."

She said my name as if she was saying the word dirty trash.

"What wrong with Sweetness?" Toph said, concerned. "Zuko, were you a little too rough on her in bad today?"

"No," I scowled. "Remember that video we said Paxton and Chen were doing?"

She nodded. "What about it?"

"Well, Paxton took the camera to school." I said. "And the principle saw it and called us to the school to talk to us." I scratched my head and continued. "And when we went there, she went off about our life, and she basically called Katara a slut in front of Paxton."

Toph looked at me with awe. "Wow, I didn't know Principle Daley could be that cruel."

"I'm ready," Katara said, sniffling, wiping her eyes. I looked at her. Her eyeliner was kind of screwed up. Not trying to be mean, but she looked like a clown, hehe.

I nodded.

"Uh, Katara, your makeup isn't looking too good," Toph said laughing. "But, hey, if you don't care, let's shake up out of here!"

"It's messed up?" Katara said, wiping her eyes.

Toph wrapped her arm around her. She pulled the hair out of Katara's eyes. "Yeah, but it'll be fine. The place we're going, no one will even notice you."

"Really?"

Toph nodded not looking at her. "Sure. Now, how about we get going?"

"Make sure you check on Pax a little later, Zuko," Katara said, walking out with Toph. "Don't break anything."

I pushed her out, smiling. "Trust me. I won't be breaking anything while you're gone."

She smiled and I kissed her on the cheek. Toph grabbed her arm before she could say anything else.

I watched them leave—shutting the door. I smiled to myself. I could do anything I wanted. Since I was home alone—with Paxton of course—I could do anything!


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**Katara's POV**

Once we got to the place where we were going, I was starting to feel really pumped up. It was just Toph and I. And when I was with Toph, we always had fun. And I mean always.

We got out of the car and I looked around. I realized where we were. We were at a basketball game. A basketball game!

"Really, Toph, you'd think I'd want to go to a basketball game," I said frowning at her. "How is this supposed to make me feel better?"

She shrugged and we walked into the stadium. "It was supposed to get you away from Zuko. Besides, Jet and Aang are meeting us here. We'll have someone to talk to."

"Wait, Jet and Aang are here?" I said nervously. Last time I saw Jet was when we went out to brunch. He was about to kiss me—or so it seemed.

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" she asked, paying for the tickets.

I sighed and told her what happened between me and Jet earlier in the day.

She looked at me blankly. "Jet tried to kiss you. Jet Kareem?"

I nodded and we went into the stadium. "I don't know what he was actually planning to do, but it looked like he wanted to kiss me."

Toph looked at me and frowned. "So, how was it with him? Was it like when you guys used to date?"

I shrugged and sat down on the bleachers. "To be honest, it was exactly like how we used to date. And I think it was better now that we are older and know each other more."

She didn't answer, but instead, she motioned Jet and Aang towards us. They smiled once they recognized us.

"Well, well, look what we have here," Aang said. "Hey Katara, haven't seen you in a long time."

I smiled. Aang Reynolds, he was usually the calm guy in the group, the joker of the group. Since the first time I met him, which was in 4th grade, he used to make jokes on the teachers. They were funny, but they were very, very bad. But he gets his jokes from Toph.

"Aang," I said, hugging him. "And I saw you, like, last weekend. You were giving my daughter tips on screwing someone."

He smirked. "Looks like it worked. Zuko told me what happened between Jamie and Paxton. You have a naughty girl." He pointed his fingers at me.

"I told you it was Aang," Jet said, stuffing Skittles in his mouth. "I had nothing to do with it."

"Sure you didn't," Aang mumbled.

We heard the announcer announce who was playing

_ Get ready folks for the game between the Washington High Eagles and the Townsville High Lion. For starters, on the away team we have starting: Andrew Collate…_

"So, who do you think we'll win?" Aang asked. "I personally think that the Eagles will win. Their point guard is a really good player."

Toph shrugged. "They're both good teams. Who knows?"

"I personally don't really care who wins," I said, cupping my hands under my chin. "I'm just ready for this game to be over."

"Aren't you and Toph supposed to be on your Girl's night out?" Jet said bluntly. "I mean, Toph paid for these tickets and you seem a little regretful of going."

I sighed. "Well, I'm kinda tired. I thought we were going to somewhere else instead of a basketball game." _And I thought it was going to be Toph and I_.

"Well, you said it didn't matter to you," Toph said, wincing as the buzzer started for the game to begin. "And besides, Jet and Aang were going, so I decided to go with them."

"Why are you so tired?" Jet asked. "You didn't do anything today, did you?"

"I could say some reasons," Aang said, not looking at us. He frowned once the Lakers scored. "I can only think of two, though."

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "How many innings are there, four?"

All three of them burst out laughing. I frowned not knowing what the joke was.

"They are called quarters, Katara," Toph said smiling. "Innings are in baseball and football, I think?"

"You're right," Jet said, doing a fist pump as Eagles scored. "After this, do you guys want to hit over to Katara's house?"

"I'm right here," I said. "Why do you guys always want to come over my house? What's so fascinating about it?"

Aang shrugged. "Nothing. My house is a mess, and I want to see little, innocent Paxton."

I grunted. "She's not so little or innocent anymore." I told them about Paxton recording Zuko and I on the couch.

"What are you teaching that girl?" Aang said in awe. "You guys need to keep your private business in uh…let me see…private!"

"Shut up, Aang!" I said, pushing his shoulder. "Don't you think I know that?"

He frowned. "Seeing how she caught you guys 'in the act', you don't seem like you know."

"We weren't 'in the act'," I said, using quotations.

"Can't we all just get along and watch the game?" Toph said. "Come on, if you want to flirt around and argue, go outside. Some of us are trying to watch the game."

I grunted. "Toph, can I talk to you?"

She turned towards me, hesitantly looking at the score board, and said slowly, "Sure."

I grimaced, "I mean without the guys around."

She rubbed her eyes and looked at the score: 12-14. She quickly jumped up as on of the team made a time out.

"Ok," she said grabbing my arm. "Let's go."

She dragged me outside of the gym and leaned on the wall. "What's up?" she said. "Don't tell me you are nervous of being around Jet?"

I shook my head quickly. "No. I'm just kinda uncomfortable being around him. What if he tries to make a move on me?"

She laughed abruptly. "You are nervous of being around him. Remember when Aang and I used to date?"

I nodded, "Yeah, he was the only thing you talked about in high school."

She shrugged. "I did talk about him a lot now that you mention it. Anyway, when we broke up, since he decided to fool around with another girl, I had to get used to him being my friend."

I smiled. "You were so mad when you found out Aang was cheating on you with Kyla James. You were furious."

She sighed. "Yeah, but I had to get over Aang, whom I did. And you need to get over your feelings for Jet."

"Get over Jet? I don't have any feeling for him," I said, laughing dryly. "He's the one who probably has feelings for me."

"So you're telling me that if you and Jet were trapped in a room all by yourselves, you wouldn't think to do anything with him?"

My jaw tightened. Okay, so she had a point there, but that was under some circumstances.

"That's not the same thing," I pointed a finger at her.

She raised her eyebrow. "So you're saying you wouldn't do anything with him?"

"I never said I wouldn't!" I said.

"So you're saying you will!" Toph said happily that the conversation was about to end.

"No, no, no!" I said loudly, a little too loudly. Aang and Jet came out of the stadium and walked towards us.

"What is going on out here?" Jet asked. "We can hear you all the way in the stadium. What are you guys talking about that you have to be so loud?"

"Yeah, some people want to see the cheerleaders," Aang said, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Nothing, Jet," I said quickly. I turned to walk inside the stadium, but Jet held my arm.

"Can I talk to you for a few minutes?" he asked.

"I…uh…" I said faltering.

"Sure, take all the time you need," Toph said, pushing me towards Jet, who caught me.

"Where are you guys going?" Jet asked Aang and Toph.

"I have to get home," Toph said. "Aang is taking me home. Edgar would be mad if I didn't feed him at the right time."

"You have a dog?" I asked her. "But I thought you wanted to watch the game."

She shrugged. "I'll see it on TV."

I watched as they walked away. I turned back to Jet who looked oddly sad.

"So, what's up?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**Katara's POV**

I woke up, irritated and annoyed. I could barely get to sleep because I was thinking so much about what Zuko did. *Sigh* I almost feel like I was too hard on him. But I told him to not do anything, and he had a party. He invited Riley Dean, which not only was bad, but Riley got us in trouble with the police, and he wasn't someone I trusted that easily. And yes, he has a record.

I walked to the sink and brushed my teeth, then walking back to my bed and sitting on it. Why did I have to have two kids running around my house? Why couldn't Zuko be the mature adult and listen to what I had to say?

"Hey," a voice said.

I looked up. There was Zuko standing at the doorway looking pitiful. I frowned. Why did he have to be so cute when he knew he was in trouble?

"What do you want?" I said in my most annoyed voice.

He smiled and sat next to me on the bed. "Ok, so you were right. I should've listened to you and I'm sorry."

"Is that all?" I said, crossing my arms.

He nodded, rubbing his neck. "And sleeping on the couch is not as comfortable as sleeping in the bed…with you."

"I guess that's what happens when you act dumb and have party with Riley Dean," I stood up.

"Jet used to be a bad boy and you still liked him." He walked towards me and kissed my neck softly. "Besides, I said I was sorry about Riley. What do you want me to do, go on my knees and beg for your forgiveness?"

I pushed him off, raising my eyebrow. "Would you even do that?"

He shrugged and backed away from me. "I wasn't planning to do that, but if you want me to…"

"Forget it," I rolled my eyes. "What are you doing today? Are you working?" I walked towards my drawer.

"No, I thought that we could spend some time together today," he said, running his hand through his hair.

"But I have to work today," I said, pulling out some clothes and putting them on. "My boss said that today's shift will be pretty hectic. Many people are coming in for their anniversary. More people more money."

"Hey," he said, watching me.

"What?" I said, struggling with my restaurant outfit. "Can't a girl have some privacy?" He walked over to me and held my shoulder so I could be balanced. "Thanks."

"It's not like I haven't seen you before," he said. I grunted.

He shrugged and changed the subject. "When are we going to have our anniversary?"

I raised my eyebrow and snorted. "We're not married, Zuko. I'm still technically your girlfriend."

"How about our anniversary for having Paxton," he said. "We could celebrate that."

I laughed, which he frowned at. "Yeah, we do celebrate that, Zuko. It's called a birthday."

"Oh."

I gave him a chaste kiss and walked towards the door. "We could try to hang out today after I get back from work?"

"It's Mai's birthday today," he said. "She invited me over to hang with her."

"So, you would rather hang with your ex-girlfriend than your girlfriend?" I asked.

He sighed. "It's not like that, Katara. She's inviting a couple people over and she invited me. She did invite you, but you have to work, right?"

"Yeah," I said, putting on my shoes, walking downstairs. "I'll see you when I get back."

I heard him run after me. "Katara, are you mad at me?"

I rolled my eyes and ignored him. I saw Paxton out of the corner of my eye playing Kinectimalson the X-box. I patted her on her head.

"Mommy," she said sweetly, hugging me. "Are you going to work?"  
>I went on my knees. "Yeah, I have to work today, babe. You're hanging out with your dad today."<p>

She frowned slightly. "Daddy said that we're going to go to Mai's birthday party today. Can't I just come with you to work like I used to?"

I stared into her hazel eyes. "Jet said that he's bringing his son there. If I bring you, I don't want to have to tell you anything that'll get me fired. Do you hear me?"

She jumped to hug me. "I promise I'll be good."

She ran to get her shoes. I walked into the kitchen where Zuko sat staring at me.

He laughed and stood up. "Wow."

"What?" I asked, getting a cereal box out of the cabinet.

He whistled. "You're so sexy in that waiter uniform." He kissed me, pushing me into the counter. He leaned me back, nuzzling my neck. His soft lips dug in my skin gently.

I grunted. "Zuko, please…"

"Mommy, are you ready to go?" Paxton asked, coming into the kitchen. She grabbed the cereal box from off the counter and put it into a bowl, clearly not caring about Zuko caressing me.

I cursed silently, jumping away from the counter and lightly pushed Zuko off me. I looked over at Paxton who was pouring her cereal into a bowl.

"Um…yeah, Paxton," I nudged Zuko to get off me. He continued to suck on my neck passionately. "Paxton, I'll meet you in the car." I slid the keys across the table. She grabbed them and walked out the door.

Once she was out of sight, inside the car, I turned towards Zuko. He leaned in to kiss me. I immediately put my hand on his lips to stop him.

"Zuko," I said. "Didn't you see Paxton? We can't just let her see us making out or something. It'll give her ideas."

"Well, she's not here now," He said softly. He chuckled when I didn't answer. "Now we can finish what we started. I'll make it fast…five minutes. I'll be gently this time."

I scoffed and pushed his chest. "You're, like, never gentle with me."

He laughed loudly. "Hey, I got to leave my mark. You are mine, Katara Marine. Besides, if I'm rough, the effect is better."

"What effect? The only effect you're leaving is me in pain," I said, walking towards the door. "Last time, I could barely walk. Toph, Suki, and Haru were all making fun of me."

"Well, then maybe we could fondle around," he said, pointing his index finger in the air as if that meant something.

I rolled my eyes. "I got to go, Zuko. I'll see you later." I kissed him on the lips softly. But as I was breaking apart, he leaned into me and kissed me deeper.

He pushed my back against the door. He broke apart as he was about to take the kiss to another level.

He smirked. "That's just a taste for what's coming tonight."

I raised my eyebrow and walked out the door, going into the car.

"Love you!" He yelled at me.

"Love you, too," I said (not as enthusiastic) back to him.

Once in the car, Paxton looked at me as I put my purse into the back seat. She seemed to be really interested in my face.

"What's wrong, Pax?" I asked looking at her.

She pointed to my neck. "What is that dark reddish spot on your neck? Did you swallow something that was too hot?"

I immediately put my hand over my neck and cursed softly. I looked into the mirror. Great, Zuko gave me a hickey, a pretty noticeable one. Excellent.

...

Read and Review please...promise it gets better


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Once we got to the restaurant, I immediately unbuckled Paxton's car seat and got out of the car. I pulled Paxton's hand into the restaurant where I worked: Adriano's Pasta House.

"Mommy, why are we rushing?" Paxton said. I sat her at a table in a chair.

"Could you watch her for me?" I said to one of my co- workers, Geoffrey. He nodded.

I ran into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. I sighed. I pulled out my makeup kit and quickly put on some concealer and powder on the hickey. It did help a little, but you could see a change in color if you looked hard on my upper neck.

I went out of the bathroom and grabbed my notebook. I walked towards Paxton and Geoffrey.

"Thanks for watching her," I said lightly hitting him in the shoulder.

"Hey, it's okay," he said brushing hair out of his face. "I checked you in, so you don't have to."

"Thanks," I said. He nodded.

"Wow, so now you are trying to copy me," a voice said. I turned around. It was Jet and Chen. Chen had his head down.

"And how is that?" I said, glancing over at Paxton, who was looking at me.

"Bring your child to work day," he said pointing to Paxton. "Don't act like you don't know."

I shrugged. The door rang as the first customer walked in. I turned on my heels and walked towards the customer who already was seated by Geoffrey.

"How are you—?" I started.

"Hello, miss. My name is Jet and I will be your waiter today. Can I offer you something to drink?"

I looked at him.

"What's wrong with you?" I said to him as he went to get the lady something to drink.

He smirked. "It's all apart of business, Kit Kat."

I frowned at my old nickname he used to give me. I flinched as my phone started to vibrate. It looked at the text. It was from Zuko.

From Zuko:_ Make sure you remember to get more condoms. Stack up on those. Love you!_

I stared at the text a little mad that he had texted me. I sighed and texted him back

_Katara: Why don't you get them yourself? You're the one who wants to have_…

"Are you talking on your phone, Miss. Marine?" my boss said. "You know that I don't like it when people text on their phone. Please, stop."

"Yeah, sorry," I said nervously. I put my phone in my back pocket and turned to go to one of the customers. Jet winked at me.

"Paxton, you can go into the playroom with Chen," I said pulling out my pen. "Make sure there is an adult in there watching you."

She nodded and practically ran into the room. I turned on my heels and started the day.

...

Authors Note: ok…so it maybe at a rough start, but just give it some time the unexpected starts will be here soon.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**Zuko's POV**

I quickly put on my jeans and t-shirt. I grabbed my car keys and went into my Blue Mazda. Starting up the car, I glanced out the window. There was Toph fussing with Ty Lee.

I pulled out the driveway and slowly drove by their house. I waved at them, they stopped talking to each other and turned around and waved at me.

Toph walked towards me and leaned on the window. "Where are you going?"

"Mai invited me to her birthday party," I said scratching my head. "Aren't you guys going?"

"I was," Toph said. "But I can't go today. I told her that Aang was finishing up my dog house for Edgar."

I nodded. "What about you, Ty Lee?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I'm supposed to be meeting Haru at his house today. I told her that I might be there for a little while, but leave early."

"What you doing at Haru's?" I said.

"I'm tutoring his niece in math," she said giving Toph a look. "She's going into the second grade next year."

"Ok."

"Why? Have you talked to Haru lately, Zuko?" she asked me.

"No," I shook my head. "Well, I'll see you guys later?" I said with a wave. I drove off and went towards my ex girlfriends house. I wonder how this was going to go.

**...**

**Read and Review! Please.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

**Katara's POV**

I quickly wiped the tables and cleaned up the floors. My day was over. It was finally time for me to leave.

I turned around as the dinner shift workers started to come in. I waved to them as they came in.

"How much did you make today?" Jet asked, walking with me to get Paxton and Chen.

I pulled out my money from out of my pocket and counted it.

"I have 35 dollars from tips," I said, putting my money back in my pocket. I put my notebook down. "What about you?"

He smiled. "I made 35 dollars, and I got a number." He flashed the paper out of his pocket.

I rolled my eyes and went into the room. Paxton and Chen were playing with Lego's that were sorted out onto the floor.

My co-worker, Rachael, came up to me. "They were no problem. They seem like good kids."

I grunted and put my hand out. "Thanks, Rach. Come on, Pax."

She ran up to me and grabbed my hand. "Bye Chen and Jet."

They waved at us and walked out the door. Jet stopped me. I sighed to myself and turned around.

"What?"

"I was just joking around with you back there," he said smiling. "You know me."

"Yeah," I nodded, feeling a little irritated that he stopped me. "Bye, Jet."

I walked down to the car. Paxton looked up at me. I rubbed my neck sheepishly, making sure my hickey wasn't showing.

"Do you like Jet, mommy?" she said.

Startled, I turned towards her and almost tripped over a crack on the sidewalk. I opened the car door and put Paxton into her car seat.

"Why do you say that?" I asked.

She shrugged. "He seems like he likes you."

I scoffed. "We dated in high school."

"Was it a good relationship like you and daddy?" she asked buckling her seat belt.

I went in the driver's seat and turned on the car. "What do you mean by a good relationship? A good relationship could mean a lot of things, Paxton."

"Oh, I don't know," she said softly.

I turned onto Walgreens parking lot and parked into a space. I took out the keys and got out the car.

"Are you taking me in, mommy?" Paxton said sweetly, trying to unbuckle herself.

"Sure," I said opening the door. I hesitated, realizing what I was coming in to the store to get. "Wait, maybe you should stay here. It won't take long."

"Please, mommy," Paxton said.

I sighed, knowing that she would continue to beg. I helped her out of her car seat, and grabbed her hand.

A cool breeze hit my face as we walked in. I went up to the front desk of the pharmacy. It was a man.

"Um…excuse me," I said. He turned around. He was an elderly man, who looked to be in his late 50s.

"Yes, how can I help you, miss?" He said politely. He fixed his glasses and smiled.

I smiled back at him. "I have—"

"Mom, can I look at the toy section?" Paxton said, walking towards the isle. "They have new toys!"

I nodded. "Sure, Paxton." I turned back to the man. "Uh, I ordered some stuff up here a few days ago. They said that it was ready for me…"

He smiled. "Yes, may I have your name?"

"Katara Marine."

"Oh, yes, Marine," he said, adjusting his glasses onto his face. "Here you go."

"Thanks," I said, taking the bag.

"Mommy, what are these?" Paxton said, holding up a box of tampons.

I took the box from her and put it on the shelf. "Paxton, what did I tell you about picking up things?"

I took a hold on her hand and walked down the isle picking up a box of Trojan condoms.

We then went into the checkout line.

"Is this all for you?" the checkout lady said.

I looked up at her. "Yeah."

"What is bir…the...contr…oal?" Paxton said, trying to reach the top of the check out counter.

I ignored her and took my money and bags. I quickly thanked the cashier and left.

Once we got home, I hoped to see Zuko in our room ready for me. But unfortunately, he wasn't home. Everything looked the same from when I left this morning.

I looked at the time on my phone, 4:30pm. He left to go to Mai's party at 3:00pm. How long was he planning to stay?

**Zuko POV**

This was the best party I've ever been to. Here were some of my best and baddest friends here at Mai's party.

"Hey, Zuko," Mai said, giving me something to drink.

"What's up?" I said over the music. "This is some party, Mai. This is probably on the best you've ever had. I mean, you're, like, the queen of parties."

She laughed. "Thanks, I tried to make it the best. I haven't had a party since high school."

I nodded, taking a sip of my drink. "Yeah, that's true."

"Zuko Sozin?"

I turned around to see my old high school buddy, Dell. "Dell what's up?" "This is some party isn't it?"

He shook his head. "Yeah, I think that this is one of the best party's my baby's ever had."

"You two are together now?" I said, finishing up my drink. Dell and Mai was never the sort of people I would find together. Dell was so energetic and loud, while Mai was quiet, got bored easily, and kept most of her feelings hidden. But then again, it's been a while since I've seen her. She could have changed.

"Yeah," he smiled, kissing Mai softly on her lips.

"Cool. Hey, Mai, could I have another one of these." I said, pointing to my cup.

She raised her eyebrow. "Sure."

"So, how did you two end up together?" I asked.

He shrugged. "We just ended up together. We were basically friends then soon we were together. How are you and Katara?"

"Good," I said as Mai gave me another cup. I felt a little nauseated after I downed the cup. "I…um…I think that I need to sit down." Dell laughed, hitting my shoulder, and then walking away.

She laughed. "Is the drink too strong?"

I nodded. "What is this, beer?"

She shook her head and smiled. "I know you too well to know that you hate beer. It's Absolut blue vodka with a touch of Kool-Aid. How is it?"

I smacked my lips. "It taste kind of strawberry flavored."

She hit my back, which made me cough. "That's the Kool-Aid, my friend. Azula told me about it last month. She was making Kool-Aid and added some Absolut blue vodka in there," she licked her lips. "She said that I should try it."

"Azula! I should've known this was her concoction." My head was pounding. "Maybe I shouldn't have drunk all of that."

"Azula wouldn't…ok, she probably would, but I made it," Mai said. "How many did you have?"

I scratched my head and held up my fingers. "I think I had three."

She raised her eyebrow and put one of my fingers down. "I think three is with three fingers, Zuko, not four."

I sat back and looked at her. "You're pretty."

She smirked, but quickly realized what was happening. "You're drunk, Zuko."

"No, I'm not," I said, picking up someone else's drink and drinking it. She grabbed the cup out of my hand, making some of the drink spill onto my shirt. "I wouldn't lie to you."

"I think I should take you home," Mai said. "Where are your keys?"

I laughed weirdly, it was almost a hiccup. "I'll be fine. I can drive."

"No, I'll take you home, Zuko," she said warningly. "I don't want you driving. Really, Zuko, give me your keys."

I nodded and dug in my pocket for my keys, but threw a couch pillow at her head.

She gave up. "Fine, I'll just call Katara to come get you."

As she walked away, I immediately ran out of the house and into the car. I turned the music up loud and started up the car. "Time to drive."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 **

**Katara's POV**

As I was pacing around the room for Zuko to come back from Mai's party, the phone rang. I jumped over the couch to get it.

"Hello?"

"Katara, hey, this is Mai," she said.

"What's up?" I asked. "Is Zuko still at your house?"

She hesitated before speaking. "Um…no."

"Oh, then he just left?"

"No," she said bluntly. "He got drunk and—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa he got drunk?" I said getting angry. "Why, what did you give him—where is he now?"

"I don't know how much he was drinking," she said sighing. "But, he left before I could take his keys. Trust me, Katara, I was going to call you to come get him, but he left already."

There was a beeping sound letting me know that there was another call coming in. "I have another call, Mai, I'll call you right back."

I hung up on her and switched lines. "Hello?"

It was a deep, rough voice that answered. "Yes, is this Katara Marine?"

I cleared my throat. "Yes, this is."

"I just got a call from the paramedics that Zuko Sozin got into a car accident with a diesel truck just a few minutes ago." He coughed into the phone. I gasped loudly. "Now, I know what you are thinking miss, but—"

"No, you don't know!" I said loudly. I saw Paxton sleepily come down the steps. "Where is he? Is he…dead?"

He stuttered. "No, but he is badly injured. He almost died, Miss Marine. It was the grace of God that that diesel truck didn't fall on top of the car."

"What are his injuries?"

"I'm sorry, Miss Marine, but you will have to come to the hospital," he said. "Please, come now. We need to do some surgeries on him before he can start doing anything."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, afraid to sit down.

He sighed. "Please, just come to the hospital. We are at Tower Hospital on Grandfield Street."

He hung up on me.

My hands were trembling as I put the phone down. I couldn't even remember the last time Zuko or I got drunk. Well, unless you count the time at our graduation and we...you know.

"Paxton," I called.

Her hair was matted as she walked towards me. "Mommy?"

I rubbed my eyes. "Um…mommy is going to get dad at the hos—store. I should be back kind of late."

"You are leaving me here by myself," she said happily.

"No," I said bluntly. I thought for a few minutes. "

"I want to go with you," she said hugging my leg.

I closed my eyes tiredly. "Honey, please, I'll get Toph to come over."

She gasped loudly. "That means I can stay up all night long!"

I smiled and picked up the phone. I dialed Toph's number and waited for the 4 usual rings she gave before she picked up.

"_Hello_?" Toph said sleepily.

"Toph, this is Katara," I said hurriedly. "I know that this is short notice, but do you think that you can watch Paxton tonight?"

She didn't speak for a couple seconds. "_Why_?"

I told her about what happened with Mai and Zuko.

She sighed. "_I thought you guys said that you wouldn't get drunk anymore because of what happened after graduation_."

"I know, but I didn't get drunk, it was Zuko," I said. "Can you just watch her, please?"

"_How much are you going to pay me_?" she said.

I scoffed. "Nothing. You should do this out of the goodness of your heart, Toph. This shows how good of a friend you are."

"_Fine, I'll do it_," she said finally. "_Why didn't you just call Jet_?"

I snorted. "You know why I didn't call him."

She sighed. "_Fine, I'll be there_."

"Good. Could you be here in, like, two minutes?" I asked. "You live, like, two houses down."

She laughed loudly then hung up the phone. I frowned. She'd better come.

"Mommy, daddy is drunk?" Paxton said, coming out of the kitchen. "He's at the hospital? Is he dead?"

I sat down on the couch and sighed. "Honey, please." The doorbell rang. I got up, it was Toph. She had on some Nike high-tops, a pair of _Scooby-Doo_ pajama shorts, and she had on a fitted green t-shirt. She looked tired.

"Wow, what did you do last night, Toph," I teased. "Were you with Aang a little too long?"

She stared at me blankly. "I can leave, you know."

I smiled and hugged her. "Thanks, I really appreciate this, Toph. I promise I'll return the favor."

"You better." She waved her hand at me and lied on the couch. "Just go so there can be some peace and quiet."

Paxton jumped on her stomach playfully and Toph immediately jerked up.

"Hi!" Paxton said excitedly smiling. "Are you going to be babysitting me while mommy is gone?"

"No, I think I just came over here just to see you guys," she mumbled, closing her eyes. I hit her on her arm. "Yes, Paxton, I came here to watch you."

"Ok, I should be back at least before…" I looked at the time; it was almost 8:00pm. "I'll be back, know that."

Toph rolled her eyes. "Hurry up and leave so you can come back, Katara, and then I'll be able to go home."

I kissed Paxton and grabbed my keys and went out the door. I started up the car and left. All the possibilities of things happening to Zuko were in his mind. What if he's on the verge of dying? What if he's already dead?"

I turned onto the hospital parking lot and practically ran into the hospital. People looked at me like I was crazy, but I didn't care. My boyfriend was dying.

"Can I help you?" a woman said at the front desk.

"Yes, my boyfriend got in a car accident. He got hit by a truck," I said,

She smiled when I said hit by a truck. Personally, I didn't see anything funny. What if she got hit by a truck and I started laughing, how would she feel?

"Oh, you must be Miss Marine," she said, flipping through some paperwork. "He's in room 197 on the 3rd floor. But I don't know if they want you in there. He's badly injured."

"Thank you," I said a little hesitant. "Does he need surgery?"

She shrugged and took a drink of her coffee. "I don't know. He has some bad injuries, ma'am, he came in not breathing. I haven't seen him since then. Please, go to the room, the doctor should be there momentarily."

I smiled politely and went into elevator. To be at nighttime, there were sure a lot of people in the hospital. It seemed as if everyone was hurt.

Once I reached the 3rd level, I sprinted out into the hallway and ran right into, yes, you got it, Jet Kareem. What was this bozo doing here?

"Jet," I said startled. "What are you doing here?"

"The same reason you are here," he said with a small smile. "The hospital called me about Zuko and I came up here as fast as I could."

I looked at him while he talked. Why couldn't it have been someone else that got the call? Why not Suki or Sokka? Why did it have to be Jet? Augh, does the world hate me?

"Yeah, sure," I said trying to find his room. I looked at the door that read Sozin. This was Zuko's room.

I opened the door and looked in. There he was. He was lying still on the bed. There were cuts and bruises all over his body. I put my hand over my face as I saw that his ribs and head were wrapped. There was a cast on his left arm (I guess that's the side where the truck hit him).

I can't even explain the sight of his body. Imagine a car colliding with someone walking down the street at unimaginable speed. That's how his body would look after the collision. He looked so broken up. He looked like death.

I started to cry. I didn't even have the guts to go over there. I was so much in shock.

A warm hand was on my shoulder. I turned around and there was Jet. He hugged me and I sobbed in his shoulder.

The doctor walked in suddenly. She smiled sadly. "I'm sorry about your boyfriend, but that is what happens to drunk drivers. Were you with him at the time?"

I looked up. "No, I wasn't with him. I was getting home from work when I got the call."

"How long will it take for him to get better?" Jet asked.

She sighed and whistled. "With this type of injury…it could take up to week's time even months. It all depends on his body."

I closed my eyes and sat down in a chair. "Will he be ok?"

"He's had to do a surgery, miss," she said. "We had to do surgery on his left arm. The bone was so out of place, but it was good that it wasn't broken. So far he should heal normally. Hope for the best."

I nodded.

"Please, it's best for you two to go home," she said sadly. "He needs all the rest he can get to heal up. Come in a couple days, he should have some strength to talk by then."

"Thank you," I sniffled. Jet and I walked out of the hospital and back into the lobby. He grabbed me some coffee. I smiled.

"I can't believe this," Jet said, sitting next to me.

"Yeah, I know," I said softly.

"Oh, I was referring to Zuko being drunk," he said. "I thought you guys said that you wouldn't get drunk anymore because of what happened after graduation."

"I know, I know," I said, trying to stop the conversation. "Can we just, like, not talk about that, please?"

"Sorry," he said calmly.

"I don't feel comfortable talking about it right now," I sat back in my chair, taking a sip of coffee.

He nodded. "It's because I'm a guy, right? You would probably feel more comfortable talking to some your girl friends, huh?"

"Whatever." I rolled my eyes and stood up. I better go, Jet. I bet Paxton is running all over Toph right now."

"Toph's over your house?" Jet asked. "I could've just left Chen over there instead of getting Smellerbee and Longshot to do it."

I snorted. "No, I think leaving him with them was fine."

"Why?"

"We don't need anything else happening like before," I said, walking out of the hospital. "Besides, Zuko and I are already a bad influence to her."

We walked towards my car in silence. I opened the door, a little hesitant to leave.

"You need a ride?" I asked Jet. I assumed he had taken the bus.

He laughed. "Yeah, I kind of didn't want to take the bus again. Thanks."

"I'm going home, but since you live a couple houses down, you can walk from my house," I said.

He got inside. I started the car up and left the hospital parking lot.

"You guys aren't a bad influence on Paxton, Katara," he said suddenly. "Paxton came unexpectedly. You guys didn't know it was going to happen."

I turned onto my driveway. "That's the thing. It just happened. We shouldn't have been doing anything."

We got out of the car and I went inside my house. Jet followed me inside. I looked around. Toph was playing against Paxton in a car racing game on the X-box. I assumed Toph was losing because she was trying to distract Paxton by pushing buttons on her controller.

"You're cheating!" Toph said, pressing buttons on Paxton's controller.

Paxton giggled, not taking her eyes off the screen. "You're the one trying to take my controller."

I laughed, gaining their attention. They turned around, Paxton paused the game and ran and hugged me.

"Finally, you guys are back," Toph said standing up. "And I see you brought a friend?"

"What's up, Toph," Jet said, nodding his head.

"Is daddy ok?" Paxton said sweetly.

"He's…fine, but he'll be in the hospital for a while, honey. But he's healing," I said reassuring her.

"Do you think he'll be healed for us to have a baby brother or sister?" Paxton said.

I blinked my eyes. She hasn't talked about having another sibling in a while. Toph must've said something. "Uh…why do you ask?"

She bit her fingernail. "Toph said that since I wasn't good, I wasn't getting another sibling. And now daddy's hurt."

"Wait…what?" I said confused. "Toph said you weren't good? How were you not good?"

"When I had that accident with Jamie?" she said softly. "I was being bad. That's what Toph said. And now you guys won't get me another sibling because I was being bad. And bad kids don't get things."

I glared at Toph who shrugged. "Honey, don't listen to her."

"And she said that I was an accident, and I wasn't supposed to be here if something you and daddy didn't do," Paxton said.

"What!" Toph said, raising her voice. "I did not say that. I said that your dad had an accident and he wouldn't have had that accident if he didn't get drunk."

"Oh," Paxton said. "I thought you were talking about me."

"Yeah," Toph said softly. "Get your facts straight, Paxton. That what you're talking about is a whole other story."

"What do you mean?" she said.

"Nothing, Pax," I said, pushing Toph. "It's nothing at all."

"I remember the Principle at our school saying something about you and daddy," she said. "It was something about having me at a graduation. I don't remember because you had your hands over my ears."

"Paxton, it's okay," Jet said speaking loudly. "Whatever you heard was something the principle said to lie on you."

I stared at Jet. He was just making it worse.

"I don't understand," Paxton said. "And I want to know now. I don't want to know when I'm older. I want to know now."

"Paxton, right now is not a good time to talk about this," I slouched on the couch.

"But I want to know," she said. "I ask my teacher questions after school almost every day. She tells me things, but then she leaves some questions out for you guys to tell me."

"What exactly have you been asking?" Toph said, raising her eyebrow.

"Well, nothing exactly," she shrugged. "Just a few homework problems and I told her about the video on the camera. She told me to talk to you guys."

"You're young, Pax. You have so much time to learn and figure out things," I rubbed my face. "I know that it's nerve wracking when you don't know things. But sooner or later, you're going to wish that you would've waited. And you ruin life because of one bad choice you made."

The room fell silent. I know Paxton had no idea what I was talking about.

"I don't understand," she said.

"You will soon, Paxton," I said.

She sighed and hugged me. "Ok."

"Goodnight, honey," I sighed.

"She's going to be a really smart when she gets older," Toph said, watching her walk up the steps. "She talks so intelligent."

"Yeah," I breathed. "I hope she doesn't end up like me and get pregnant at an early age."

Jet laughed. "I think you'll point her in the right direction. I think she'll be the best child you'll ever have."

I scoffed. "Only have."

"At the graduation, did you talk things through or have a conversation with Zuko, or did you guys just fall onto bed?" Toph said bluntly.

"Uh…why?" I asked.

She shrugged. "I don't know. Since you guys were drunk, you weren't really conscious of what you were doing, right?"

"Well, to be honest, it was very awkward. I think I started crying." I said embarrassedly.

"You started crying?" Toph said laughing. "He didn't even do anything to you yet."

"Yeah, I started crying. I was scared and nervous of what was going to happen. We kind of talked through it during the experience, but we were drunk and it was so embarrassing and awkward. And when he touched my—" I stopped talking and realized that Jet was still here. My cheeks flushed, "Jet, I forgot you were here."

He nodded. "I can see that."

I frowned. "Are you going to be going home? I mean I didn't really know that you were going to be staying over."

He smiled and sat next to Toph. "Well, Toph is still here. Why can't I stay? I kind of want to listen to what happened to you and Zuko at graduation."

"I'm actually about to leave, Jet," Toph said, pulling out her car keys. "And besides, Katara probably doesn't want to talk in front of you about what she and Zuko did in bed."

I coughed and stared at Toph sheepishly. "Uh…actually, I was just wondering when you were leaving."

"Well, I was thinking," Jet said. _Here we go with the thinking_. "Since Zuko isn't here, I was thinking that maybe I could stay and comfort you in his absence. You know as a friend."

I felt Toph's gaze on me. "Let me walk Toph out to her car." I pulled Toph outside and closed the door, leaning on it.

"Here we are in a love triangle, again" Toph said. "And I thought my love life was complicated. Here Jet is, throwing himself at you. He must be desperate."

"Well, he's going through the same pain as me, somewhat," I said, getting off the door, walking down the driveway to Toph's car. "His wife died at an early age and Zuko, his best friend, almost died. Maybe it is a good thing that he stays, just for me to hang with a friend, of course."

"Right," Toph raised her eyebrow. "So, now you're on his side. Just admit it. You still have feelings for Jet."

I scoffed. "I do not have feelings for Jet. He's just my friend, nothing more or less."

She smirked. "OK. Just make sure you don't do anything with 'your friend'. I mean, he is _just_ your friend, right." She turned around. "Oh, and if you need me to take care of Paxton for a while, you can just send her over, okay?"

I crossed my and turned away from her. "Bye Toph," I said, walking back into my house. I heard her laugh loudly. She pulled off my driveway and sped off.

I sighed, closing the door. I turned around to look at Jet. "So, what is with this staying over my house thing?"


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

I stood in my room, looking into my double mirror. I was really starting to grow tired of trying on dresses with Suki since we had been doing this for almost two hours straight. Now I could rationalize with Toph why she hated shopping with Suki. I watched Toph through the mirror sitting on my bed, throwing a rubber ball she found on the floor into the air. Suki was scavenging through my closet for clothes as she hummed her never ending song of _Last Friday Night_ by Katy Perry.

"Suki, could you hurry up and finish this before we miss the festival and die of old age!" I said with a little irritation in my words.

"Just a minute!" she said as she left the closet. "You are going to look absolutely stunning in this outfit," she said. "Now, all I need is to wrap this and…finished! How do you like it?" she said, she was shaking in excitement waiting for my approval.

"She looks like a cherry," Toph stated. I glared at her and looked into my mirror and was stunned. I was wearing a red dress that stopped at the middle of my thighs. It made a v shape down my chest and was low cut. It was short sleeved and very, very soft.

"Needless to say, every guy at the festival will fall down when they see you!" Suki chirped as I started to walk out of the room "Wait, there's one other thing."

"What?" I asked, annoyed.

"Remember to laugh at some of the things he says even if they aren't funny," Suki said with a smile. "And make sure to compliment him on things you think he cares about. Oh! And if you want to test him to see how he's feeling about you, make sure to stare into his eyes for an uncomfortable amount of time and judge how he's feeling depending on what he does. Whether it's blushing or looking away." Suki said. I listened and memorized everything that was told, even as we started to leave and approach the festival.

"Honestly, I don't really care if he likes me or not," I said, moving a strand of hair out of my face. "Just because Zuko's in the hospital doesn't mean I can cheat on him."

"We know that, Sweetness," Toph said, "you should be telling yourself that." I frowned.

"Go get 'em tiger!" Suki said, as she smacked me on my butt and quickly closed the car door.

I walked into the building that read: **Fire Festival**. Jet told me that he and his dad used to always go to these when he was younger. They do all sorts of things with fire, and you get a kit for how to make your own fire, which I laughed at because you could just make fire with a couple of matches and you're set. But then it was almost ironic because Jet never liked fire when he was younger, but here he is now at a Fire Festival.

As I made my way around, a man came up to me. He looked to be in his early thirties. I looked him up and down.

He smirked. "What is a pretty lady like you doing at the fire festival all dressed up?"

"I'm here with a friend," I said, taking another glance around to see if Jet had came.

"Well, it seems like your _friend_ hasn't came yet, huh?" he said. He had a country accent. "Listen, how about I show you some of the fire tactics I've learned. They call me the magnificent fire breather."

"I'm kind of waiting for my friend to come, magnificent fire breather," I said a little too sarcastic.

"Well, maybe he ain't coming," he said bluntly.

"What's your name? Unless the magnificent fire breather is your name," I asked, trying to sound as uninterested in his answer.

He bellowed a laugh. "If you want to know so badly..."

"Not hardly," I said as I walked past him.

"Wait! I was just joking! Hold up for me!" He yelled as he tried to catch up with me. "My name is Phil Watson. What's yours?"

"Taken," a voice said behind me. I turned around, it was Jet. I smiled, I was actually happy to see him. "She's with me, thanks."

Phil put up his hands. "Sorry, I meant no harm, son."

"It's Jet, and I'm not your son." Jet nodded his head at the man and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. We walked away. "Sorry about being late. There was so much traffic on the high—you look nice."

I blushed. "Thanks." I glanced down at him. He had on some black Nike high tops, a white v-neck, and some blue jeans. "Ditto."

He smiled. "You didn't have to get too spiffed up. It's just a fire festival. You wore your best clothes."

"Suki kind of helped me with this," I said, motioning to my dress.

He cocked his head to the side. "Yeah? Well, lets get this party started. How about we start off with the fire flake eating challenge?"

I nodded and we walked.

All night long, Jet had me laughing up a storm. As I remember in high school, he was one of the guys who could me make me laugh in any state of mind. And all today, I think this was probably the best day I've ever had with Jet. He made me feel like I didn't have to act too girly or too modest. And it seemed like I could talk to him about almost anything; however, not like if I was talking to my girl friends, that's different. And yes, I know Zuko and I had sex, but Jet was so cool to be around, and he was different than Zuko in a different type of way. Zuko is my boyfriend, whereas Jet was just my friend.

"Well, I think that was the last of the fireworks," Jet said, looking up into the sky. "You ready to leave?"

"Yeah," I said, taking a sip of my soda.

I piled in his car and he took me home. We rode in silence for a couple minutes until my phone started to ring. I looked at the caller ID it was Suki. Sighing, I put my phone back in my purse.

Jet turned towards me. "You're not going to answer the phone?"

I shook my head. "Nah, they probably just want to know how my day went. They're trying to be nosy."

"They're your friends, though," he said, looking back on the road.

I opened my mouth to speak but my voicemail came on. My phone was on speaker phone for some odd reason...

"_Hey, Katara, this is Suki_."

"_Toph is here, too, Katara_," I heard Toph say in the background.

I heard something in the background. "_Stop it, Toph; go back into the room with Paxton and Chen. Anyway, Katara, we were just wondering how your day went with Jet_…"

"I told you," I started, looking at Jet. "They were just trying to see how my day went."

Suki continued. "_But since you aren't answering, I'm guessing you did more than what you were supposed to_."

My eyes widened, and I immediately started looking for my phone.

I heard Toph's voice on the phone. "_We told you to not fall for him, but apparently you did. How's Zuko going to feel about you and Jet having_—?"

I turned off the speaker and answered the phone, cutting Toph off.

"What the hell is you guys' problem."

"_Oh, hi, Katara_," Toph said. "_We thought something happened_."

"_You didn't answer_," Suki said, snatching the phone from Toph. "_Where are you guys_?"

I sighed annoyed. "We just left the festival. Jet is taking me home in his car since you guys didn't want to stay and take me back home."

"_Hey, I did want to stay, but Suki_—" Toph started.

"_Whoa, whoa, whoa you said you guys are in the car_?" Suki said, cutting Toph off.

"Yeah, so?"

"_So, he heard what we said_?" she asked nervously.

I rolled my eyes and said softly. "Hopefully he didn't. The music is pretty loud in his car."

"_Oh, sorry_," Suki said. "_We didn't know_. _Uh_…_I'll just let you enjoy the rest of your evening_."

I scoffed; _you basically ruined the rest of it_. "Yeah, thanks."

"_Wait, no, I wanted to say something to Katara_," I heard Toph say.

"_She already hung up, Toph_!" Suki shouted.

"_She didn't, I can still hear the music_," Toph said.

I sighed and exited out of the conversation. I turned to look at Jet who had a smirk on his face.

"What's so funny?" I ask.

He shook his head and pulled into my driveway. "You girls are crazy."

"We're crazy?" I said sighing.

He smiled, turning off the car. He got out and opened the car door and the front door for me.

We walked into the house. "Uh…you want something to drink? We have orange soda," I said, looking into the refrigerator, tossing him a bottle.

He caught it effortlessly. He sat on the couch. "You know, I've always wondered what life would be if I was the one living here."

I fell silent.

"I'm just saying," he said with a chuckle. "I'm talking about the house, Katara."

"Yeah, sure," I laughed. "So, are you going to get Chen?"

He shrugged. "Can't a guy stay for a few seconds?"

"Well, seeing the time," I said, looking at my phone, "it's way past a few seconds."

He laughed and started to take off his shirt.

I gasped. "What are you doing?"

He looked at me curiously. "Zuko never takes off his shirt?"

I let my eyes glance over his tone body. His jeans were slightly sagged. He must've been working out since the last time I've seen him topless.

"Yeah," I said.

"Besides, my shirt has ash and dirt on it from the festival," he said looking at his shirt. "Look at this stain. I just got this shirt last week, and here's a big stain from when I was putting dirt on the fire." He looked up at me. "Can I wash it?"

"Yeah, do you want me to wash your pants, too?" I said sarcastically.

"Ha ha." He frowned. "Look, if you don't feel comfortable with my shirt off, I'll put it back on. It's no big deal." He held his shirt close to his chest.

"No," I said, starting to feel like a wimp. I snatched his shirt from him. My fingers brushed over his chest. "I'll just put it in the washer, and _you_ can dry it at your house."

"So, I have to dry it when you can?" he said, raising his eyebrow.

I threw his shirt into the washer machine. "It's your shirt. I mean, I don't even have to do this, you know."

He nodded. "Thanks. Hey, you want to play some basketball outside?"

I looked at him dumbfounded. "Why?"

He shrugged. "Pass time. I know you don't want to stay in the house with me all night."

"What does that mean?"

He shrugged again. "Is that a yes?"

I rolled my eyes. "Let me change into something better." I walked upstairs quickly.

Once I made it downstairs, I saw that Jet had already made his way outside. Out of the window I saw him miss a shot from the side of the driveway. I opened the door and went out.

"Ok, you ready?" he asked, now out of breath.

He was really starting to sweat now. Droplets of sweat rolled from his neck, down his abs onto the tops of his pants. His muscles flexed as he twirled the ball on his finger. I turned away from him, shaking a raunchy picture out of my head.

"Just give me the ball," I said, holding my hand out. He passed the ball to me. "I think I still remember a few moves that Zuko taught me." I hung my head thinking about Zuko. All this time I've been with Jet, I haven't even thought of Zuko.

Jet saw my expression and immediately wrapped his arm around me. "Hey, it's okay. He'll be fine."

I smiled. "I'm sorry."

He smiled back at me. "It's okay."

"I don't want to spill all my emotions out on you," I laughed. "How about we start playing?"

He nodded. "Ok, a game to 21?"

"Okay, but first show me how to shoot a hoop," I said.

He smiled then moved to my side and held the ball. "Alright, first, you hold the ball in your right hand and steady it with your left on the side. Don't grip it with your left, you're pushing with your right and reaching into the basket." He demonstrated, shot the ball and it dropped neatly through the basket with a swish. I watched carefully. "You try," He said, retrieving the ball and placing it into my hands.

He watched as I lined up my arms. "Don't grip with your left," he reminded me, placing his hands over mine and gently correcting my stance. His action resulted in a position that was nearly an embrace. His cheeks touched mine. He nudged my right foot forward with his toe. "Lead with your right foot, a little crouch. Now straighten your legs and push the ball up and through the hoop." He straightened away from me.

I steadied myself, calculated the distance to the hoop and shot. The ball hit the backboard, bounced around the rim several times, and then into the hoop.

"Hey! You're a natural!" He grinned and jogged to get the ball. "You ready to play? Here, remember, you have to dribble unless you're going to shoot, okay?"

"I know what to do, Jet," I said, snatching the ball away from him. "I have a boyfriend who played in high school, remember?"

"Yeah, and I played with him," he said, getting into his guarding stance.

An hour later, I had the basics of HORSE down pack. "One more game before we go in? Are you trying to let me win?" I said breathlessly.

He smiled. "I don't want to play too rough. I don't want to hurt you."

I smirked. "I can take care of myself. This time play for real, Jet."

"Fine," he said firmly, "I'll step it up a notch."

I began to dribble, dodging toward the basket. Jet easily blocked my routes, laughing at me as I became slightly frustrated. I rolled my eyes as he took the ball away from me and scored. Suddenly, I just got so, to put it in words that won't get edited out for young readers, _exceedingly_ angry, I simply charged at him, letting the ball fly in a shot. The ball bounced around the rim several times before going into the basket.

My body slammed into his and I bounced off. As I was about to fall I reached out and grabbed Jet for support, but he didn't expect me. I braced myself for the fall, but it never came. Instead of hitting the concrete ground, I had landed on something much softer, yet firm. Opening my eyes, I looked to see Jet staring at me, sighing with relief once he saw that I was okay. I had landed on top of him.

"Are you okay?" he asked seriously, but I could tell he wanted to laugh.

I glared at him. "Yeah, thanks."

I realized that the position we were in was pretty awkward and may have looked suspicious to any one who was watching. My attempt to move off of Jet had not worked. Looking into his face, he pulled closer to me, leaning upwards so that our lips could meet. His lips, which were soft, moved rhythmically in tune with mine. I felt Jet's hand roam from my arms to the lower part of my back. He pushed gently, making my body press harder onto his.

With a moan, I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him more passionately, letting my tongue interact with the familiar territory.

Then, I realized what I was doing. I quickly ended the intimate scene between us and stood up before anything else started to happen. I wiped my lips and cleared my throat.

"I think it's…um…I'm going to go…inside," I said nervously.

He got off the ground quickly. "Yeah, I'll get my shirt and leave."

I hurriedly walked in the house and walked towards the washer machine, which had stopped. I picked out his shirt and gave it to him. "It's sorta damp."

"Uh…thanks," he said with a nervous smile.

I nodded, closing the front door with my arm.

I closed the door and leaned against it. "What did I just do?"

...

**Ok, so I think this is gonna be my last chp, no one is really reviewing, which is ok because that means I need to step up my game. Thanks for the reviews.**


	15. Chapter 15

***Alright, so I decided to continue. Thanks to many of the reviews submitted to me, I will continue with Unexpected (ATLA). Thank you everyone. Please enjoy these next TWO chapters.**

**Chapter 15**

A small knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. I nervously turned around and opened the door. I breathed a sigh of relief once I realized it was Toph with Paxton.

"Hey," I said, rubbing my face. Paxton ran up to me and hugged.

"What's up?" Toph said, popping her gum loudly. "I just came to drop of Pax for you."

"Thanks," I said softly.

She raised her eyebrow, twirling her keys on her finger. "What's up with you? Did everything go okay with you and Jet?"

I shook my head. "I need to talk to you."

She closed the front door and walked inside. "Okay."

"Paxton, could you go upstairs for a moment?" I said, running my hand through my hair.

Paxton looked at me and sighed, looking a bit tired. "I can't stay down here?"

"No," I said, really not wanting to argue with her.

"Why?"

I crossed my arms. I was starting to get a little irritated. "Paxton, can we talk about this later?"

She lowered her head, dropping her shoulders. "Okay." She went upstairs to her room.

Toph walked towards me and flopped on the couch next to me. "What'd you want to tell me?"

"Ok, can you keep this between me and you?"

"Sure," she said plainly.

I frowned at her one word comment. "When Jet brought me back home, he wanted to play basketball in the back. So we started playing and…"

"Let me guess, he lost to you?" she said. "Hey, that's not really a secret, but I'll keep it to myself."

"I didn't lose okay, actually, nobody won." I said, thinking about it. "But that's not the point. He was playing all easy on me, and then I told him to play harder because I wanted a challenge. Jet is actually a really good player, did you know that? He plays like he's—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Marine," Toph held up her hands, signaling me to stop, "don't babble. I hate when people do that."

I sighed. "Sorry, but when we were playing, I kind of got frustrated and barged into him. I fell and I pulled him down with me..."

She looked at me blankly, and then glanced down at her watch "What are you getting at, Katara?"

I sighed. "He fell on top of me."

She gasped. "Don't tell me you guys did _it _on the concrete. That would be so wrong. If you were so desperate, at least do it in the privacy of your home."

I quieted her and continued. "We most certainly didn't."

"Then what happened?" she questioned.

I sighed. "We kissed."

She stared at me with her mouth open for a while. "You kissed him or he kissed you?"

I shrugged. "I—we both sort of leaned into each other."

Toph stared at me some more. She smirked. "Didn't I tell you? You still have feelings for that boy."

"No," I said standing, "Jet and are just friends."

She chuckled. "Whatever you say."

"We are!" I raised my voice. "It was just a kiss?"

She snorted. "A kiss is a peck, like, one of those church kisses, Katara. You were full on making out with him, tongue and all." She turned towards me. "Why did you kiss him? Is it because of Zuko being in the hospital? How are you going to tell him?"

I sighed. "I don't know, I don't know."

"Don't you guys have that 'tell each other everything' pact going on still?" she said.

I nodded. "Yeah."

She stared at me. "How are you going to tell him? You know he's going to be asking what you did while he was in the hospital."

I rubbed my forehead. "I know, I know I just—I'll have to think about it."

"Speaking of Sparky, when is he coming home?" Toph asked.

I shrugged. "I'll see him tomorrow. I hope he's doing well."

She laughed. "Yeah, after he hears what you and Jet did, I don't think he'll be feeling too hot."

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "Bye Toph."

"Hey, I'm just saying," she said, walking outside towards her car.

I went back into my house as she drove away. How was I going to tell Zuko?

…..

**Read and Review: Thanks**


	16. Chapter 16

***Disclaimer*-I don't own anything dealing with Avatar: The Last Airbender.**

…..

**Chapter 16**

I woke up groggily. I was starting to think twice about going to the hospital. Sighing, I woke up Paxton.

"Are we going to see daddy today, mommy?" Paxton asked me. "Is he still in the hospital?"

I grabbed the keys off the shelf and started walking towards the door. "Yeah, he's in the hospital. We're going to be seeing him today, hon."

"Good," she said happily.

We got inside the car and started to drive towards the hospital. I felt so bad about what had happened between Jet and I. Thoughts rambled in my mind the closer we got to the hospital. What if Zuko already found out?

I pulled into the hospital parking lot, took Paxton out of her car seat, and headed inside the hospital.

I sighed, walking up to the front desk. "Um…hi, could I see Zuko Sozin?" It was the same front desk lady from when I first came up here.

She looked up from her work and smiled. "Yes, are you Miss Marine?"

I nodded.

"Ok, he has changed rooms," she said, looking at her papers. "He should be on the 3rd floor room 310."

"Thanks."

I grabbed Paxton's hand and we went up the elevator. She looked up at me with worried eyes.

"Are you ok, mommy?" she asked.

I grunted. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just…tired."

She looked back at the elevator as it opened. We stepped out and approached room 310.

I looked at the door for a while then stepped in. There he was lying in his bed watching TV. He had his shirt off and he wore hospital shorts.

Zuko looked better already. His head and ribs weren't taped up, and he actually looked really good. The only thing that stood in the way of his full recovery was his left arm that was still in some sort of brace, but it looked as though he could move it.

He looked towards the door and smiled when he saw us. He sat up, moving his legs over the bedside trying to stand up.

I walked towards him. "You don't have to stand for me."

"I want to," he said. He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tightly. I hugged him back, putting my head on the top of his shoulder. "I've missed you guys." He pulled away and picked up Paxton. He hugged her.

"I missed you, too," Paxton and I said simultaneously. He kissed her cheek.

"I'm so sorry," he said. I looked at him sadly. "I know that it was a bad thing I did, but can you forgive me?"

I nodded, biting my lip, feeling a pang of guilt. "Of course, I can't stay mad at you."

He smiled and pulled me into a sensational, lustful kiss. I put one hand on his chest and closed my eyes as he deepened the kiss more fiercely.

I heard a sardonic clap coming from behind us. Zuko and I broke apart and turned around. It was Aang and Toph. I was surprised that Jet wasn't with them.

"Zuko, what's up?" Aang patted Paxton on the head and looked over at me. "I see that you two made up." He gave me a knowing grin.

I looked over at Toph and pulled her aside. "You told him?"

She shook her head and whispered. "Why would I tell him, especially Aang? You know how big mouthed Aang is. It probably was Jet."

I rolled my eyes. "Jet, of course, that's why he's not here."

"What are you talking about, Aang?" Zuko said, putting a t-shirt on. "We didn't have nothing to make up for. Well, except for my accident."

Aang smirked. "Wasn't Jet here earlier?"

My eyes widened. "Jet was here?"

Zuko got up and went to the bathroom without closing the door. "Yeah, he came here earlier."

I scoffed and went to close the door. "Your daughter is in the room, Zuko."

He shrugged his shoulders as I closed the door. "Paxton, you can watch TV in the other room."

She got off the bed and skipped in the other room flipping through station on the TV.

"Why? Didn't Jet call you?" Aang continued.

I heard the toilet flush and Zuko came out of the bathroom and washed his hands in the sink.

"So, what did Jet say when he came here, Zuko?" I asked him, trying to stay calm.

He sat back down on his bed. "Well, he told me about how he was going to stay at our house while I was gone." I started to tense up. "He also said that he took you to the fire festival downtown. He said that you downed four bags of fire flakes in, like, three minutes." He started to laugh.

"Why don't you eat like that when I cook?" Toph said to me.

I scoffed. "Toph, we all know that your cooking is one thing that we don't want to eat."

Everyone laughed except Toph.

"It's ok, Toph," Aang said, hugging her. "I like your cooking."

I raised my eyebrow and Zuko looked at me then looking back at them. "Are you two dating again?"

They immediately started laughing, almost to tears.

"Ok, I probably shouldn't have asked that," Zuko said. He turned away from the laughing couple and back towards me. "Katara, could I talk to you…alone?"

My heart fell to my stomach. "Uh…sure. Toph, Aang could you take Paxton out?"

Toph let out her last laugh and looked up at me. "Why?"

I stared at her. "Zuko has something to say to me. It's important." I gave her a worried look.

"Oh, yeah, come on Aang," she said, getting Paxton from the other room. The three of them walked out of the door. Aang had his arm around Toph. There was something going on with…

"Katara," Zuko's voice brought me out of my thoughts. I turned towards him. "I have something to ask you."

I nodded and sat next to him on the bed, but he got up and stood in front of me. I knew that this couldn't be good.

"When Jet was over here, he told me some things that really caught my attention," He started. "As you may know, we've been dating for a long time now. We've had a child together and we tell each other everything." I swallowed. "But this thing that Jet told me, it made me really figure out something."

My heart started pounding out of my shirt. "What did he say?"

He looked down and grabbed something out of the drawer and held it hiding between his hands. "Will you marry me?" He opened up his hands and inside of them was an open box with a 4.5 CT Moissanite Classic 6 Prong Solitaire Ring (Look it up on Google images).

I put my hands over my face as tears rolled down my face. He was asking me to marry him.

"So what's your answer," he said a little worried.

I looked at him sadly. "I…I…can't."

He frowned. "Why not?"

I looked at the ground and sighed as tears spilled out of my eyes. Zuko put his arm around me. "What's wrong?"

"I've done something that you probably won't like," I started. "You'll probably take back the ring."

"I wouldn't…I—I won't," he said alarmed. "What'd you do?"

"I…ki…..I kissed Jet," I said.

Zuko took his arms from around me and stood up. He blinked a coupled times before he spoke. "You kissed him?" He sat back down, putting his head in his right hand. "Look, I admit I've done some awful things," he lowered his head, pressing his palms together, "but I would never do something like that. I would never try to hurt you. How could you?"

I couldn't speak. Countless tears fell from my eyes as he continued to talk to me. I felt like throwing up.

He shook his head. "We had a child together, Katara, and you go off making out with some other guy!"

"I'm so sorry," I said through tears.

"We had a child!" He repeated, raising his voice. "How could you do this? I thought that we were the ones who would end up perfectly together, not you and Jet!" His voice cracked. "You kissed him back didn't you? Didn't you?"

Just then, Jet came into the room with a big grin and a big bouquet of flowers. His smile crumbled as he saw me crying.

"Maybe I should leave," Jet said.

"No," Zuko said, turning towards him angrily. "You kissed my girlfriend. You—I know that I was in the hospital; it doesn't give you rights to kiss my girlfriend. I thought we were friends, dude?"

"We are, man," Jet said, not looking at me. "It was a slip up. It won't happen again."

"No, it won't," Zuko said. He turned to look at me. "I think we need to break…I think we need a break. I need to have time to think about this." He turned around and punched at the wall.

"Zuko," I started. "Please, I love you."

"If you loved me, you wouldn't be kissing on _him,_" he said to Jet, not looking at me. "Look, just leave."

I sighed and started to walk out of the door not once looking up to see Jet's pitiful face.

…

**Fin! Ok, so I'm not done, but there you go on your two chapters. Read and Review Thanks! **


	17. Chapter 17

***Disclaimer*- I own nothing of ATLA**

...

**Chapter 17**

I walked into the cafeteria where I saw Aang throw a fry at Toph's head while she was ordering her food. Paxton laughed as Toph scowled at Aang.

I walked over towards them. "C'mon, Pax, let's get ready to go."

"Is daddy coming with us?" she asked sweetly.

My heart dropped. "Uh…no."

She frowned sadly. "Why? Why isn't daddy coming with us? Is he still hurt or is he just staying in the hospital?"

I sighed, sitting down; I put my head in my hands and cried. Toph sat next to me Paxton came and sat in my lap.

"Your mom is going through a tough time right now, Pax," Toph said, glaring at Aang who was flirting with one of the nurses.

"I had a fight with your dad," I said, propping my elbows up on the table. "He's mad at me right now."

"What'd you do?" Paxton asked.

I sighed. "I did something that should've have been prevented."

"What did Jet do when he saw you two in the room talking?" Aang asked, walking back over towards us. "Did he walk out?"

I shook my head. "No, he wanted to, though. Zuko told him to stay. I really hate Jet for making me you-know-what him."

"What did Jet do when Zuko told him what happened?" Toph said.

I scoffed. "I didn't even look at him. He stared at me pitifully when I was walking out. I don't even care for him right now."

"What are you going to do?" she continued.

I shrugged. "I'll wait for Zuko to except my apology and we'll see what happens after that."

**Zuko's POV**

Ok, let's see, how do I put this out to you? Let's just say I am angry as—to put in words that won't get edited out for young readers—fudge.

I can't believe that my girlfriend, made out with my best friend. MY BEST FRIEND, I repeat. And my girlfriend, I can't believe her. We did have a baby together. I mean, I know that we aren't married, but the least she could do is not go off and make out with some other guy, hell, Jet at that. Did you guys know that she and Jet dated in high school?

A knock on the door brought me out of my thoughts. "Come in."

The nurse walked in with some lunch. "Hey, Zuko. I brought you some food." She laid it on the table. "The doctor should be coming in soon. I think that you'll be able to go home today."

I smiled at her. "Thanks, I appreciate it."

She walked towards the door and turned around. "I know that it is not my business, but I hope you work things out with your girlfriend. She was very emotional when she left." She walked out of the door.

I tapped my fingers on the table. _Yeah, well, how do you think I felt_?

I ate my sandwich and fries and gulped down my coke. I lied back in the bed, switching from station to station.

A few minutes later, the doctor came in. He smiled, shaking my hand,

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Almost back to normal…except for my arm, of course."

He chuckled. "Yeah, that arm shouldn't take too long to heal, but it all depends on the healing. But everything looks good." He knocked on the brace lightly.

"What about physical therapy?" I asked. "Will I have to that?"

He nodded. "Yes, you want to be able to do whatever you want again. Physical therapy will help strengthen your arm and bring it close, if not the same, to what it was before."

"Right," I said.

"I'll send a nurse in to come get you," he said. "Should I call someone to come pick you up?"

Names ran through my head as he said that. The two that I would have called were already out: Katara and Jet. I could call Toph, Aang, Azula…

"Uh…yeah, could you call Mai Tousling?" I asked him. "She's a friend of mine."

He nodded promptly, and took out his clipboard. "Yes, what is her number?"

"(314) 649-9035."

He wrote it down quickly and nodded, walking out the door. A nurse came in once he left. "I'll walk you down to the lobby. Let me gather your things.

"Ok," I grabbed my shoes and put them on. The nurse grabbed my other things and led me into the elevator. We went down two floors and ended in the hospital lobby.

"She said that she would be here soon," the nurse said, speaking of Mai. "I hope you do well."

"Thanks," I sat back and waited for Mai.

"Would you like some company, sir?" a man said. He looked like one of the doctors.

"Uh…sure. I don't care." He sat next to me in the waiting area.

He looked at my arm with concern. "What happened to your arm, son?"

I sighed. "I got into a car accident."

"What'd you do?" he asked lifting my arm. "Were you driving to fast or were you just not paying attention?"

"Both," I said sheepishly, rubbing the back of my neck.

Mai walked in as he about to speak. "Hey, Zuko, you ready to go?"

I nodded and stood up quickly. "I hope you have a good afternoon, sir."

He nodded. "The names Pakku and I hope you do as well."

We walked out of the door. Mai looked at me with her eyebrow raised. "What was that all about?"

I grunted. "Dunno."

She helped me get into the car. "So how's it with you and Katara?"

I buckled myself in and she sat in the driver's seat. "We kind of are on a little break. Did you know that she kissed Jet?"

She nodded. "Yeah, she told me today."

"She did?"

She nodded her head. "Mhm. I was just over there to see if you were ok. She told me about what happened. Then, you called me to come pick you up. She was quite disappointed that you didn't call her first."

"She should be," I said as she started up the car.

She frowned. "She loves you, Zuko. She loves you a whole bunch. I know that she kissed another guy, but geez give her a break. It's not like you wouldn't have done that if she was somewhere else and you were hanging with a cute girl for almost two weeks."

I sighed. "I wouldn't do that. We had a child together, and we've been going out since she was 17 and I was 18. Everyone should know about us." I scanned another radio station.

"Everyone doesn't know about you and Katara," Mai said in a blasé fashion. "Not everyone wants to know either."

I smiled coolly. "Everyone we meet wants to know if we're married or when we're gonna get married."

She rolled down her window. "Well, when are you going to get married?"

I scoffed. "I proposed to her today, but when I found out that she kissed Jet, I took it back. Why do you ask? Do you and Dell plan on getting married?"

She rolled her eyes. "Dell and I broke up a when you had your accident. He says that I was reacting too much over you when I heard you got in the car accident."

"Really?"

She nodded. "I mean, you're my friend. How was I supposed to act? I was so angry at myself for letting you drink and I was angry at him for being angry at me. He was being a real jerk that day."

I smirked slightly. "You cared about me, huh?"

"No, I was just worried."

"No, you cared," I jeered.

"Ok, I cared," she finally said. "So what? I was worried and I didn't want anything to happen to you."

"Then why didn't you just tell him that?" I asked.

She sighed. "He didn't need to know how I felt."

I scoffed. "Seeing how you guys aren't together, you should've told him."

"Look, don't get started on me." She turned to look at me. "Besides, what would I have told him? Oh, let me see…hey Dell, I have to see Zuko because I care about him and I want to see if he was okay? I don't think that would've worked, Zuko."

"Well, if you said it like that, it would make it seem like you still have feelings for me," I inquired. She hesitated. "Well, do you?"

"Don't test me," she warned, not looking at me.

"C'mon, it's just a question," I smiled. "Just answer me if you like me or not. I won't get mad if you—"

"Look," she said, cutting me off. "I don't have feelings for you, Zuko. To be honest, feelings is the thing that's gotten me in trouble. If I wouldn't have overreacted so much to you getting hurt, I probably wouldn't be in this predicament of breaking up with Dell."

"Well, I'm sorry I got hurt," I said, a little too sarcastically.

She frowned. "Yeah, I'm sorry, too." She pulled up in my driveway and turned off the car.

I stared at her. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" she unlocked the doors. "I'm bringing you home."

"Let me say this slowly for you: I. Don't. Want. To. See. Katara." I crossed my arms on my chest. "I definitely don't want to talk to her."

She rolled her eyes and mumbled something incoherent. "You're such a dick."

I turned towards her. "What was that?"

She sighed. "I said that you're a dick."

I glared at her opened-mouthed. I couldn't believe she actual just called me that! She wasn't the one who got cheated on. "How could you say that?"

"Katara loves you," she said, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel. "Why can't you just forgive her and move on with your life? So she kissed a guy, big whoop! Just let it go."

I sighed. "That's the thing. I can't let it go."

She laughed, which startled me. "Well, you better learn how to let it go because you're getting out of my car, and you're going to talk to Katara whether you like it or not."

Staring at her, I got out of the car. "Fine," I said, finally. "But if this doesn't work out, I'm walking right back out here."

She scoffed. "You're not coming home with me. I don't need anymore drama coming into my life. I already have too much as it is.

"Right," I said sarcastically. "Thanks, Mai. Can I at least give you a hug?"

She rolled her eyes and gave me a quick hug that lasted for about 2 seconds, well, her meaning of 2 seconds.

"And maybe even a friendly goodbye kiss?" I said, leaning into to her.

She pushed my face. "No thanks." She raised her eyebrow. "I'm starting to think that you have the hot's for me."

I grunted and starting walking towards the front door. "I was playing. No need to get disappointed."

She grunted and went back inside of her car. "Keep thinking that, Sozin. Keep thinking that."

I smiled and took a deep breath. _Was I really going to be doing this_? I put my knuckles on the door silently making sure I didn't make a knock. _This is ridiculous…_

...

Read and Review, thanks!

***Pretty good length chapter, friends. That should keep you on edge for the next chapter that I probably won't update until…Monday, yes, I said Monday. But if I have time, I might update a little earlier, maybe.***

***Shoutouts to: Zutarafan, Avatarforlife6301, NinjaBlood4life, TigerBlood12, Tia, GameFreak, and all the others who reviewed for my story* I appreciate it! *smiles***


	18. Chapter 18

***Disclaimer*- I own nothing***

**Yeah, yeah I know what I said about the updating, but here you go, Chapter 18.**

...

**Chapter 18**

**Katara's POV**

I leaned against the doorway. He was here…he was actually here. I turned around and looked back out the door peephole. He looked as if he was contemplating to come in. He looked almost disappointed.

I sighed. _Why was he here if he didn't want to talk to me_? _Mai must've pressured him into it coming_...

I jumped as he knocked on the door. I sighed and opened the door casually, making sure I didn't open it too anxiously.

"Katara," he said with a small smile.

"Zuko," I said shakily, letting him in. I closed the door after him. "What are you doing here?"

The room was robbed of sound. I could feel my heart drumming in my chest.

_Ba boom, ba boom. _The beating thundered in my ears. Surely he could hear it?

He shrugged. "I got persuaded to talk to you."

"Ok," I led him to the couch. "Zuko, I'm sorry what I did, and I really didn't mean to hurt you."

"Why did you kiss him?" He said. "In my opinion, you cheated on me with Jet."

"I didn't cheat on you," I said. "I just went overboard with him, and things got too serious."

He shook his head. "You could've stopped if you wanted to. You didn't have to go overboard. And even if you did go overboard, you should've, figuratively saying, pulled yourself back onto the lifesaver being thrown out to you. But apparently you didn't."

I stared at him dumfound. "What are you talking about? There wasn't a lifesaver being thrown out to me. What I did with Jet was a mistake. Can't you just forgive me and stop stalling?"

"I didn't come here to hear your apology," he said softly.

"Then what are you here for?" I was starting to get angry.

He sighed. "I came to hear the truth, and I want to get Jet's side on the story. I was wondering if we could go over there and—"

"What story?" I said interrupting him. "What I told you was the truth, Zuko. Can't you just trust me?"

"I trusted you to do the right thing when I was in the hospital, but did that go as planned. No," he frowned. "I want to hear Jet's side either way. He may—"

Three knocks on the door interrupted his talking. I got up and opened the door. To my chagrin, Suki, Toph, and Aang were standing at the front door.

"What are you guys doing here?" I said a little annoyed. "We're kinda having a conversation," I pointed to Zuko.

Suki smiled. "Did you guys kiss and make up?"

I frowned at her. "We most certainly have not. Why do you guys always come to our house? Can't you just stay at home?"

She shrugged, undaunted by my bad mood. "You were crying all day today. We came to see how you were doing."

I groaned while Zuko and I walked pass them. Zuko opened the passenger car door of my car and got inside. He motioned for me to climb in. "Thanks for the affection," he said drily, "but if you'll excuse us, we're kind of in a hurry to do something."

"Where are you guys going?" Aang asked.

"_Make-up sex_," Toph replied in a loud stage whisper. I rolled my eyes.

"Actually," Zuko said, giving me his car keys, "we're going to Jet's house to hear the other part of the story."

"What else is there to hear?" Toph said, picking a flower off the tree. "Besides, Jet's not at home.

I sighed and got out of the car. "Can we still talk?" I looked over at Zuko, hoping he would give in to me.

He opened the car door and stepped out. He sat on the steps. "Fine."

I got out of the car and sat next to him. "Are you guys going to be leaving any time soon?"

They shrugged. Toph started to walk back to their car. "I guess we could go. Ty Lee could be at home, let's go there. I'm sure she wouldn't mine."

"I'll drive," Aang said, walking towards the driver's seat.

"No, I will," Toph said, following him. "It's _my_ car."

"Fine, but you owe me big time," Aang said, finally giving up.

"Why should I owe you? It's my car technically." Toph said. She started the car as Suki got in the back. "And no, I am not giving you money."

"It's getting late," Zuko started, walking into the house. "I shoulder probably leave."

I broke out of my trance and stared at him. "Zuko, please. Let me talk to you."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, which had grown in the past couple of weeks, almost covering his eyes. "What is there to talk about?"

I hesitated, trying to find the right words. "About what's been going on and about what I said to you."

"Then _talk_." His voice abruptly sharpened and he turned to me, his hair shook as the wind ruptured it.

I sighed. "Look, I'm sorry about what happened. I don't know how many times you want me to say it, but I'm sorry. I know that you are angry and you probably don't want to see me, but I miss you. Paxton is angry at me because you and I got into a fight." I paused. "I don't want my daughter to be angry at us for a silly argument."

"It wasn't a silly argument," Zuko said, sitting on the couch. "This is something that you shouldn't have done. This was your fought that you and I are now 'on a break'. If you wouldn't have made out with Jet, this wouldn't have happened!"

I was starting to get really irritated. "Can't you please just listen to me? I'm trying to apologize! If you did something like that, I would forgive you. I wouldn't hold it against you!"

"You would?" He said surprised.

"Yes," I said, thinking that we had finally come to the conclusion.

He held his head down. "But that's the thing. I haven't done anything like that. I've been faithful to you all this time, and here you are throwing it back in my face." There was a moment of silence before he spoke again. He sighed. "But I could try to forgive you, Katara."

I stared at him, shocked at what he said. "Y…you do?"

He nodded. "I think that part of you kissing Jet was my fought. If I wouldn't have gotten drunk, this wouldn't have happened in the first place." I sighed and he frowned sadly. "I just couldn't get that thought of you kissing Jet out of my head. I was so angry that I took the anger out of you when I should've been mad at myself for leaving you." He sighed heavily and stood up. "I know you may think that I'm being very mood swingy here, but I do love you and I'm sorry for leaving you."

I stood up and he pulled me into a papa bear hug. I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him back, but once I did that, he started to pull away.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

He shrugged. "It's not the same. I really can't get that image of you and Jet out of my head." He moaned. "Katara, I think that we need to break up. And I'm not talking about the whole break up but get back together crap." He closed his eyes and began to rub his forehead. "We really need to split. I can't do this…"

**Zuko's POV**

Right after I said that, she lost it. Yeah, I'm talking about the angry tears and a few words that…stung.

"You just said that you loved me. What the hell do you mean?" Ah, the impatience.

I sighed. "I don't think I can handle you. I love you Katara, but—"

She cut me off with her hand. "If you love me then why are you breaking up with me, Zuko?" Her voice cracked. I suddenly felt a pang of guilt.

"I know this is hard, but now we'll be able to do our own thing, get with other people," I said, trying to make the situation seem not as bad as it seemed.

She mumbled something incoherent.

"What'd you say?" I asked.

She wiped the tears out of her eyes and sighed. "I said what are you going to do about Paxton? She's going to wonder where you are, and you will not be there."

I shrugged my shoulders. "I'll visit, I promise that. I won't leave you hanging, Katara. I promise."

"Stop promising," she said abruptly, standing up. She held her head down. More tears flew out of her eyes, and yes, figuratively, they flew. "Don't promise me anything. Just, just go." She sniffled.

"Katara," I started.

She crossed her arms, hugging herself. "Please, before Paxton wakes up. Just go, now, Zuko. There's no point of you staying here if were not together anymore."

"Katara, we just need a break," I said. "I just need time to think."

"What the hell is there to think about?" she said raising her voice. "You should have thought all you needed to a long time ago."

"I know," I said, squeezing her shoulders.

She shrugged me off. "Don't. Touch. Me."

I sighed. "I'm sorry. When I get my thoughts together, I come back around and talk. But now, I just got to get my thoughts together."

"There's nothing else to talk about, Zuko," she said snidely, opening the front door. "I said everything I needed to say." She started to push me out the door, slamming it behind me.

…..

***Okay, so I was nice, and gave you guys another chapter. But that means that I don't have to update until Monday, yes, not until Monday. You can eat up these two chapters, and when Monday comes around, you'll be ready for Chapter 18pt 2. Thanks!***

**Read and Review, please!**


	19. Chapter 19

***I didn't want to do a part 2 of chapter 18 because it was irrelevant to the story. Here's chp 19.***

…

**Chapter 19 **

"Hey," Suki said, coming in the front door. Toph and Aang followed after her.

"Hi, mommy," Paxton said, coming downstairs, "is daddy back?"

My smile immediately turned into a frown. "Uh…daddy and I got into an argument." Paxton's cheerful face turned into tears.

Suki made a noise that indicated I was going about it the wrong way. She went over to Paxton and squatted down to her height. "Paxton, it's like this. Have you ever liked someone, but then you get into a fight with them, and then you guys don't speak for a while?"

She nodded her head. "It's like me and Chen. I'm not talking to him because he got angry when I started hanging out with another boy."

Toph snorted, but closed her mouth when I stared at her.

Suki paused to stand up. "Yeah, it's like that. Your mom and dad aren't on good terms right now. They just need a break from each other so that they can…relax, yeah relax. When their done 'relaxing'," she said, using quotes with her fingers, "they'll be back together in no time." She smiled, pleased with what she said.

Paxton seemed to calm down after that. She wiped the tears out of her eyes. "When is the relaxing going to be over?" She turned to look at me.

"Whenever your dad decides," Suki said, answering for me. "Hopefully, it could be tomorrow."

She smiled. "It could?"

"Yeah," Suki whispered. "It could be today, too. You never know what could happen. If you believe in your heart anything is possible, then it will be possible." I heard Toph laugh.

Paxton's grin widened and she hugged Suki tightly. "Thanks, Suki."

Suki hugged her back. "No problem, Pax." She stood up and turned towards me. "I think I can handle Paxton better than you can, Katara."

"So," I said, clasping my hands together, "who is this boy you're talking about, Pax?"

Paxton looked at me and smiled. "His name is Conner Hendrix. He has reddish hair and he's very nice looking."

"You like him?" Toph asked.

Paxton nodded. "Yeah, every time I see him, he always says hi. And at recess, he picks me to be his partner for tag, and we had to hold hands, and he held mine."

"Awwww," I heard Toph and Suki say.

"When is there ever partners for tag?" Aang said.

"But now, Chen's mad at me because I'm hanging out with Conner," Paxton said, crossing her arms. "He won't even say anything to me. Why is he mad at me?"

"Maybe because he likes you," Toph said simply. "He probably doesn't want you spending anytime with Conner."

Paxton laughed. "No, Chen's my best friend. He's like my brother."

Suki scoffed. "Many things can happen between best friends. Look at your mom and Zuko. They were best friends all throughout school, and look at them now."

"Yeah," I said unenthused. "Look at us—"

Just then, Zuko burst through the door.

"What are you doing here?" I said, startled, breathing heavily.

"Daddy!" Paxton said, running up to hug Zuko.

"Hey, Paxton," Zuko said, hugging her tightly.

I almost smiled, but then I remembered that I was angry at him. "What are you doing here?" I repeated.

He sighed. "I been thinking about what you said, and I gave in to it. I'm sorry about what happened, but I brought someone with me."

I stared at him. "You come into my house, bursting through the door like you're some mad man, and you have the nerve to tell me that you brought someone. Why did you—" I paused after I saw who he brought in.

"Hey," Jet said, looking at me. Chen squeezed his hand tightly.

"Jet," I said breathlessly.

Aang made a whistling sound. "Well, didn't see that coming." He laughed lightly.

...

***So there's chapter 19, pretty short. I didn't update early like I said I might do, but I did update today. And I'm giving you another chapter!***


	20. Chapter 20

***Disclaimer-I do not own anything related to Avatar: The Last Airbender  
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**Chapter 20**

"Look," Zuko said, holding up his hands in offense, "I'm not trying to put anything out there, but you guys need to work out your feeling for each other. I can't date a girl who likes another guy."

I frowned, hitting my forehead with the base of my palm. "There is no relationship with me and Jet. Just because we…did what we did doesn't mean I have feelings for him." I sighed. "Why can't you get that through your head? Why are you being so difficult?"

Chen walked over to Paxton who was sitting on the step. He sat next to her, giving her a small smile.

Zuko exhaled in exasperation. "Hey,I'm just trying to make sure that no feelings get hurt _if_ we get back together."

I rolled my eyes. "No feelings are going to be hurt, Zuko. You just want Jet to confess his feelings and talk about what we did so that you can accuse me of something."

"Actually," Jet sighed, removing his hands from his pockets and crossing his arms over his chest, "Zuko brought me over here because I told him to come get me. I wanted to apologize for what I did, and I didn't mean any harm when I did it." He swallowed. "We were just in the moment and, boom, it just happened. I'm sorry, and it won't happen again."

I gave a snort of a laugh. "You want to apologize to me? Wow, what did Zuko do to make you want to do that."

His looked away. "He didn't do anything. I was walking towards you guys' house, and Zuko saw me walking and he gave me ride."

Toph scoffed. "That sounds so unlikely to happen. Why the fu…heck would you walk from your house to Zuko's when you have a whole car? That's stupid."

Jet sighed and uncrossed his arms, allowing them to dangle at his sides. "Maybe it is to you, but I know what happened." I smirked. He was very serious about this. "Fine, don't believe me. But I'm just letting you know that what I say is true, and that's that."

"It's not that easy," I said, crossing my arms.

"As a matter of fact," Jet said, holding up a finger, "it is that easy. You guys just can't give up because of one little fight. Now, that's stupid."

"Well, what would you have done," Suki said, raising her eyebrows.

"As a friend, I would've told Zuko to go patch things up with Katara even if he didn't want to listen."

Zuko scowled, looking up. "Relationships don't work that way. Things don't _get _patched up overnight with a few hugs and kisses, Jet."

Jet rolled his eyes, shifting his weight on his other foot. "Well, then things are only going to get worse the longer you guys leave it. Besides, you guys know that you guys are supposed to be together." He paused to lean on the wall.

"Ok, but, how will they run a relationship if they can't get past a single fight?" Toph said, sitting down on the couch. "They say the first fight's the worst, maybe they'll get past this and be stronger. I mean, they love each other." She pointed to me and Zuko.

Jet grimaced. "This isn't a fairytale, Toph; love doesn't just magically make things better. In fact, it complicates things. It makes it _harder _for two people to work through a problem that neither wants to talk about."

I grunted. "Why do you even care what happens between me and Zuko?"

"You guys are both my friends," he said softly.

I frowned. "And…"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know; you guys have something I wish I had. I mean, Zuko you're so fortunate to have Katara, and Katara you're so fortunate to have Zuko." He sighed. "You have someone to rely on, considering the fact that I don't."

There was a pause before someone spoke again.

"He's right, you know," Aang said. "You guys just can't break up because of a, in my opinion, futile disagreement. It's in the past, just forget about it and move on."

In the corner of my eye, I could see Zuko twitch. I knew he wanted to say something, but he held back. Instead of lashing out, he walked up to me and grabbed my hand.

"He's right," he said, looking at me. "I know I've said this millions of times, but I'm sorry for everything; leaving you shouldn't have been something I did. I should've waited it out and went through it." He wrapped his arm around my shoulder, squeezing me softly. "Do you want to go back out with me?"

I kissed him on the cheek. "Of course. I can't stay mad at you forever. I mean, we had a kid didn't we?"

"And you know what, I think I'm ready to have another one," Zuko said. I frowned.

"Hey, if you guys are about to do some freaky stuff, let me leave," Toph said. "I don't want anyone getting caught again."

"Actually," I said, "I think I'm gonna call my grandmother."

They all made a face even Zuko.

"Why are you going to call her?" Aang asked.

"She's like one of those old women that speak to you all wise, and tell you wise things," Toph said, sitting down, crossing her legs. "Besides, the last time I saw her, I was with Suki and your grandmother gave us that look like she knew that we were sexually deviant."

"Well," I said plainly, which they frowned at. "Besides, I'm only calling her because she wanted me to come with her to dinner with her and her friends and—" The phone rang loudly, interrupting me.

"I'll get it," Zuko said, quickly walking into the kitchen.

"Alright, well I guess we'll see you later," Aang said, turning towards me. "Hopefully, we can come over sometime this week."

I raised my eyebrow. "You're not coming over this weekend? You guys usually do that. Are you and Toph doing something this weekend?"

Jet gestured to Chen with his hand. Chen walked towards his father slowly, looking back at Paxton. Paxton walked up to me and held my hand.

"No," Toph said, texting on her phone. "I have to work—what's wrong, Zuko?" Everyone turned around.

Zuko's face was frozen in alarm. It looked as if he just got done watching a horror film.

"Zuko," I said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "what's wrong? Are you ok? Who was that on the phone?"

He swallowed. The whole room was quiet and still, waiting for him to answer. "I just got a call from my mom at the hospital." (Let's just say Zuko's mom didn't leave)

"What happened?" Aang said.

He hesitated. "My uncle just had a heart attack."

I gasped. "We have to go see if he's doing okay." The last time I saw Uncle Iroh was when I got pregnant with Paxton. And that day didn't go too well."

"It's too late," Zuko said gloomily. "He's already gone."

...

***Read and Review Thanks! There's chapter 20, two chapter for today. I'll update soon!***


	21. Chapter 21

***Disclaimer-I own nothing related to Avatar: The Last Airbender**

**...  
><strong>

**Chapter 21 **

The last place I looked to find Zuko was on the front porch. He rocked back and forth in a chair, his gaze was focused on the cars that zipped by on the street. He had an unopened bottle of wine in his hand.

"Zuko," I said, walking towards him. "You doing okay?"

He ignored me and continued to stare.

I reached out for him, but he shrugged me off. "It doesn't even feel real, you know?" I swallowed. "Iroh was just so..."

"Don't," Zuko turned to look at me, raising a hand and pointing at me.

I was taken aback suddenly. "Um...what are you talking about?"

He cursed, his hands clutched at his sides and closed his eyes tightly. "What do you think I'm talking about?" He threw the bottle onto the ground angrily. I flinched as it broke into little pieces.

I reached out for him again, yet this time he didn't pull away. He then placed a kiss on my neck and lifted a hand to my cheek. I sighed, stopping him.

"Zuko, no—"

"Please, Katara."

He continued, cautiously feathering kisses along my jaw, along the column of my neck.

I paused. "Zuko… Zuko…" I bit my lip.

"Katara…" he cried. "Katara, _please_."

I frowned, but I gave in. And afterwards, when he was asleep, I realized something. It almost felt as if I myself had the heart attack. I looked out to the balcony and closed my eyes. I guess the least I could do was help Zuko, right?

**...**

**Please Read and Review, yeah, I know this is a really short chapter…**


	22. Chapter 22

***Disclaimer*- I own nothing of ATLA  
><strong>

**Chapter 22**

"_He was a good person that will be missed dearly._ _God bless his soul_._"_

I looked at Zuko's uncle. Iroh was a good man, and he will be missed dearly. I turned my head away from the casket and went to sit back down next to Paxton, who was looking at the people that were crying.

She looked up at me. "Mommy, where's daddy?"

I sighed, heavily. "Who knows?" I looked behind me to see Zuko's mother, Ursa Sozin, talking with one of her family members. She glanced at me and smiled, walking towards me.

"Hello, Katara," she said. Her voice was soft as she gave me a worried look. "You know where Zuko is?"

I shook my head. "I'm sorry, I don't. After he looked at _him_, he walked away somewhere."

She frowned. "I wonder where he could be. Azula told me that he saw him drive off the cemetery parking lot, but he never came back."

I nodded. Azula was Zuko's younger sister. She was 22. my age. She used to be really wild before she got treatment in a mental hospital. She was way different than she is now. If you mentioned Azula's name back then, it was like, oh you mean the girl who tried to kill me? Now if you mention her name, it's like, oh I know her she helped me with...whatever.

Azula walked towards me with a small smile on her face. "Hello, Katara," she said, giving me a long hug. She looked at Paxton and smiled. "Hey, Pax."

I smiled. "Hi Azula," I said, moving the hair out of my face. "Do you know where your brother went?"

She shook her head, "He left the cemetery probably. We went for a walk a few minutes ago, and when we were turning back, he said that he wanted some time alone." She kicked a rock. "I hope he didn't go off and get drunk somewhere."

"Mhm," I said, agreeing with her, "I hope he doesn't. He promised not to get drunk ever again."

She laughed. "Was he drunk when he said that promise? You should know Zuko by now, Katara? Wasn't he drunk when he got into that car accident?"

I rolled my eyes. "Unfortunately, yes, he was. After graduation, he promised to never get drunk again, but there he was being hypocrite."

She laughed harder, almost into tears. "You know, Zuko told me some things about you, but he never said that you were funny," She said between laughs. I smiled.

"What type of things does he say about me?"

She shrugged. "You know, stuff."

"No, enlighten me."

She scoffed. "It's nothing, Katara."

"Nothing," I repeated her. "Well, do you have an idea where Zuko could've gone?"

She straightened. "I don't know. Unless he's at some other grave, mourning at someone else's loss, I don't know where he is."

"Mommy, your phone," Paxton called me.

I raised my eyebrow and took the phone away from Paxton. I looked at it. It was a text from Zuko saying, _At Mai's house_. _Don't wait up_.

I sighed at the message. "He's at Mai's house." I turned toward Azula who gave me an apologetically smile. "He's always at Mai's."

She nodded. "When they were dating, he used to always go over there and talk all the time. Even when they weren't dating he would go over to Mai's house. He would hang out with her more than anyone I've ever known. He even hangs out more with her than you." She smirked at my facial expression. "What are you going to do?"

I shrugged. "Nothing, I guess. I can't do anything about it. If this is how he copes with the death of his uncle, then go right ahead."

She smirked. "If I were you, I would go right up to him and punch him in the face for going over another girl's house."

"Nah, I'm not going to do that," I said with a smile. "He might get back at me for doing that thing with Jet."

She shrugged. "That's what you have to do, fight fire with fire."

"Then you end up getting burned." I shook my head quickly. "Thanks Azula, but I'll probably just hang with Gaang."

She smiled. "Alright, I'll see you later Katara. Tell your brother I said hi."

I grunted. Did I ever tell you about the time Azula and Sokka used to date. Well, they tried to keep it a secret for a while, and it worked for a little bit. But when I walked in on a...disturbing make out session between them, I thought I would need to go to the hospital for that.

I nodded. "Sure thing, Azula." I said walking away.

...

**R&R Please, Thanks**

***Sorry, guys, I got so busy. I had a basketball Tournament, and I got back really late. I'm updating early becuase I have another one today. ***


	23. Chapter 23

***Disclaimer- I own nothing of Avatar: The Last Airbender***

...

**Chapter 23**

"So, he just went over Mai's house and left you alone at the graveyard with his family?" Toph said in shock. "I think the next time I see Sparky, he's going to get punched for leaving my girl alone at a cemetery."

"That's what Azula said to do," I smiled. "Thanks, but I don't really care what he does. The whole time I was there, I was talking to Azula. It took my thoughts away from Zuko being over Mai's house."

"That's why I say to never date anyone you wouldn't marry," Aang said, slurping down his Iced Caramel Macchiato he ordered at Starbucks. "I mean, if I had a nickel every time I heard Zuko was going to see Mai, I'd be rich."

"Aang is right," Suki said, crossing her leg over the other. "Now that you guys are back together, you need to show Zuko who wears the pants in the house."

I rolled my eyes. "You guys are ridiculous." I smiled at the waiter who gave us our food and drinks.

"What are you going to do once he gets home?" Suki said, eating a strawberry from her fruit salad.

"I doubt he did anything with her." I shrugged. "I'm not going to get mad at him, but I might ask him why he was at Mai's."

Aang grunted, taking a bite out of his sandwich. "You shouldn't do that. Zuko might use that emotion he has from Iroh dying on you. Just leave him alone and let him be," he said between bites.

Toph put her hand on Aang's chin, making his mouth close. "Can you close your mouth, please? That smacking is really starting to irritate me."

Aang acted as if he was going to bite Toph's hand. "I'll bite." Toph smirked and moved her hand away from his mouth.

"So, you guys dating yet?" I asked, not looking at them.

They both laughed loudly.

Suki rolled her eyes and turned towards me. "Guess whose coming here today?"

I shrugged, taking another slurp of my Mocha. "Is it Kyle or some other boy you met at the mall?" (Kyle was Suki's X-boyfriend.)

She scoffed. "That only happened one time, Katara. And no it's not Kyle." She paused and looked around. "Do you know what he did to me?"

"Uh…"

"He cheated on me with some other chick," she said. "When I asked him why he was cheating on me he said that our relationship was getting boring, and he wanted some more excitement," she scoffed. "Can you believe him? It's only been six months since we got back together, and now we're broken up. I mean, first I was with him for eighth grade, then I got with Sokka at the end of eighth grade all the way to sophomore year, and then we broke up, then I was single until I got with some other guy senior year."

"I remember that," Toph said. "He was some Brazilian guy, and he was so cute, too."

"Yeah, but he played soccer, and he couldn't be with me long because he had soccer games to be at, so we broke up," she said plainly.

"You're a slut," Toph said with smile.

"I didn't sleep with him," Suki sighed. "We just had a little celebration when his team won state in soccer."

"Celebration?" Toph questioned. "You mean celebration sex, right?"

Suki scoffed. "I'm not a slut, ok? At least, I'm not the one who had sex in eighth grade."

"Yeah, and neither was I," Toph said. "Teo was a respectful guy, he respected me and I respected him. Unfortunately, my virginity was lost in junior year at that stupid party Riley Dean had."

"Yeah, mine was lost there, too, now that you mention it," Suki said deep in thought.

"Wait, you had sex with Teo? Teo Johnson?" Aang asked.

Toph rolled her eyes. "Yeah, Teo, there is no other Teo."

"How could you!" Aang shouted.

"Oh, come on, Aang; it was like, _twice_, and I don't think you and I was even dating yet."

Aang turned and stared at her. "What? Twice?" he screeched immaturely.

She ignored his question. "Well, I guess you could say two times, but it was like once…" she trailed off at the frown growing on Aang face.

"And you call me the slut," Suki said with a grunt.

"That's because you are," Toph said. "Remember when we went to that party, and that college boy asked you to dance?"

Suki's faced was a slight shade of pink. "Ok, let's not talk about that."

"Where was I when you guys had your little adventures?" I asked.

Toph and exchanged a glance with Suki. "With Zuko."

"But anyway with the whole Kyle thing," Suki continued, changing the subject. "I don't really care that much about Kyle anymore. Every time we went out or something, he would say that he'd meet me there, right? Then, he would always take _too_ long to come."

Aang and Toph burst out laughing. Suki stared at me confusedly. I shrugged.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

Aang swallowed his laugh. "That's what she said." Aang and Toph again started to laugh.

"You guys are gross," she said, cracking a smile.

"Hey, guys," a voice said from behind us.

We all turned around to see my brother, Sokka Marine, standing right behind us.

"Sokka," Toph and I said simultaneously. "What are you doing here?"

He laughed coolly. "I'm here with Suki, of course."

I stared at him, and frowned. He was dress in a fitted, white t-shirt that said 'feel me' on the chest, some denim straight leg blue jeans, and some black Nike high tops.

"Hey, Sokka," Suki said, kissing him on the lips.

I cleared my throat. "Suki, you didn't tell us that you and my brother were back together."

She smiled, chuckling softly. "Want tips?"

"No," I said dumbfound. "He's my brother."

Toph scoffed. "Give me some."

"I wanted it to be a surprise. Isn't it great that we're back together?" She held his hand. "Since the whole ordeal between Kyle and I when we were dating before, Sokka and I kind of became best friends through it all. When Kyle broke up with me, he was there to help me through it."

"Lucky," I heard Toph mumble.

I hit her on her arm. "What are you guys planning on doing today?" I finished the rest of my drink and set it on top of the trash we set in the middle of the table."

Suki shrugged. "Dunno. Sokka says that he needs me to help him with something's your dad wants him to do."

I raised my eyebrow. "What things does he need you guys to do?"

Sokka lifted his hand. "You guys don't understand. I live in my own apartment up the street, and my dad, and you to Katara, think that since you live close to me, you can have me do things for you guys," he took a grape from Suki's salad. He plopped it in his mouth. "Hakoda…tells me….to do all…these things for him when he knows that I'm battling with college," he said between bites.

Suki nodded, putting some cash on the table. "I know what you mean. It's _so_ hard, you guys. You don't understand."

Aang started to laugh again. "That's what she said."

Suki rolled her eyes. "Now, that was just stupid. You waited for me to say that didn't you?"

To my surprise, Sokka started to laugh as well. He bumped knuckles with Aang. "That was funny, dude. I'm gonna start using that more often."

I set my money down on the table. "Ok, who is going to pay this time?"

Toph crossed her arms. "I paid last time, I'm not paying again."

"I'll pay for you, Toph," Aang said with a smirk. "That means you owe me, and I get to pick what you'll be doing for me."

Suki gasped. "Are you two having—?"

"Ahem," I grunted. "I have a five year old daughter who can hear what you guys are saying."

Toph apathetically ignored me. "No, we aren't doing that, actually. Are you and Snoozles?" She retaliated.

Suki smirked mischievously. She held Sokka's hand and lifted it up in the air proudly. "It's obvious isn't it?"

"No," Toph said bluntly.

"Well," she scoffed. "No, we're not." Then she whispered. "Unfortunately."

I stood up. "Ok, you guys. I better head off. I got to get Paxton back home. Zuko might be there as well."

Sokka looked at his phone. "It's only 5:00pm. C'mon, sis, just stay out a couple more hours with us. We were planning on going to the movies."

I snorted. "What are we going to see, Dancing Ponies? Remember, I have Paxton with me. Besides, every time I go to the movies with you guys, you're always talking loudly or making out, and you can't even enjoy the movie without someone moaning someone else's name behind you." I grabbed Paxton's hand.

"That's never happened," Toph and Suki said at the same time.

I rolled my eyes, sitting back down. "Don't lie. You both have done it. I remember when me and Toph, in the **beginning **of eighth grade, and Suki was a freshmen, before Suki started dating Sokka, Suki was dating Kyle Anthony and Toph was dating Teo Johnson, way before he had his injury. We went to see some movie, and you guys didn't even watch it because you guys were making out all day." I smirked. "And was it Suki that got fingered by Kyle in the movie theatre—"

"Ok, that's enough," Suki said, cutting me off. "You don't have to come—go if you don't want to, Katara."

"Wow, you guys were bad back then," Aang said, putting his elbows on the table. "Did that actually happen?"

"I remember that," Toph said smiling. "We were in the back row, like, all the way in the back, and we separated to sit with our guys and whatever. And Suki…Oh my gosh, she couldn't even walk when the movie was over. We had to help her down the steps, she almost fell," she started to laugh.

"You must've been really interested in that guy, Suki," Aang laughed. "That's so wrong."

Suki's face was red. "I can't believe you told them that. Some friends you guys are. Thanks a lot."

Toph and I scooted next to Suki and laughed.

"Lighten up, Suki," Toph said still laughing. "I'm sure that you have plenty of embarrassing stories of us."

Suki rolled her eyes and smiled slightly. "Well, I do remember when Toph and I were at the mall; I think I was a junior and Toph was a sophomore that year. We were walking around and there was some cute boy walking in front of us. So Toph went up and smacked the guy on the butt, but when he turned around we realized that it was an old man dressed up like a teenage boy." She and everyone started to laugh.

Sokka coughed, trying to contain his laughter. "What did the guy do?"

Suki smiled. "He turned around and started to smile all mischievously at Toph. Then he said that he wouldn't mind having a teenage girl in bed with him."

"Yeah, then he said he wouldn't mind having a young lady like me," Toph said.

I rolled my eyes. "I can't believe you would hit a guy's butt that you didn't know. You didn't even know the man!"

Toph scoffed. "Hey, I thought he was cute from behind, but apparently he was dressed in young people's clothes trying to get the attention of teenage girls."

"Were you with me at the time?" Aang asked her.

Toph shrugged. "Who knows? I probably was, but I was at the mall. It's not like you wouldn't look at girls around you at the mall." Aang frowned.

"What about Katara?" Sokka asked. "Does my sister have any embarrassing stories?"

Suki and Toph looked at each other. Suki spoke up first. "Of course, she does!" She glanced up at me. "Well, they're, like, really, really embarrassing."

I frowned. I really hope she wasn't going to be getting into something she knew that she shouldn't be getting into.

"Oh, well, here's one that's not too embarrassing." Toph started. "When Katara and Zuko started dating, Suki and I didn't really hang out with them because we thought that Zuko was a jerk. So one day we went over Zuko's house to talk with the both of them. And when we walked into Zuko's room, she and Zuko were 'doing the nasty'."

"They didn't even notice us for a couple moments until Azula saw our shocked faces, standing outside of his room," Suki added, laughing harder. "She thought that something bad had happened. But when she walked into the room, she screamed, 'WTF is going on'. Once she said that, Katara and Zuko immediately went under the bed covers. Toph and I burst out laughing. It was so funny. You should've been there."

"How is that not the most embarrassing thing? And no, they shouldn't have," I rejected. "It was bad enough that Azula saw me and Zuko in bed together, and we all know how Azula was back then," I rolled my eyes. "It was even worst when you and Toph started laughing. I was so mad at you guys."

"Did Azula tell?" Aang asked.

"No, she didn't, which was surprising," I shrugged. "But when I caught up with Zuko the next day, he told me that he made her swear not to tell or he would tell his father about Azula's little "fling" with Chan."

"Haha, Chan," Sokka laughed.

Aang laughed. "Was that your first time?"

I nodded. "Yeah, junior year sucked. It was probably the worst year ever in high school."

"Yeah," Toph agreed. "You had the most embarrassing times. Then graduation hit, and everything just got worst."

"No, I think the worst time in high school was probably when Azula and Sokka dated," Suki mentioned. "Everyone loved you guys for some reason."

Sokka smirked putting his hands behind his head. "Yeah, then everything changed when Chan came along, and Azula started to cheat on me."

"Oh yeah, then you guys had make-up sex and everything was all better," Suki said with a frown.

"Hey, but that was the last time," Sokka said quickly. "Besides, it wasn't that good."

Toph snorted. "You're lying."

"No, I'm not," Sokka voice screeched immaturely.

"I know when you're lying, Sokka," Toph smirked.

"Anyway," I looked up at the guys, "what's you guys' most embarrassing story?"

Sokka snorted. "I think the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to me would be when I was running the 4 by 1 at a track meet, and I tripped over some guy and the whole race was messed up because everyone who fell on top of me got hurt."

"That's not too embarrassing," Aang said. "But lucky me, I don't have any embarrassing stories."

My phone rang. I looked down at the caller ID. It was Zuko. I answered the phone, putting one finger in my ear, blocking out the laughter.

"Hello?"

"_Hey_, _Kat_," I heard Zuko say. "_I'm_ _sorry for bailing out on you back at the cemetery, but I just couldn't take it_."

I sighed. "You should have told me that you were going to Mai's house. Your sister thought something was wrong."

"_Azula was worried. I doubt that_," He mumbled. "_I'm sorry, babe_"

I rolled my eyes. "Don't try to change the subject, Zuko. What were you doing over her house anyway?"

He grunted. "_I was just talking to her_. _She kind of helped me through the whole process, seeing how her dad died when she was young_. _She really helped me out_."

"What does she do that I can't?" I asked

"_You know how Mai is_?"He said. "_It was kind of ironic seeing how Mai never expresses any emotion. But we were just talking and she offered me some tea, and then she helped me with my emotions and stuff_."

"Didn't I do that last night?" I said quietly. "I thought I was helping you."

He laughed nervously. "_Katata, I love you, but I don't want to be all weepy around you_._ I'd feel so vulnerable_."

I raised an eyebrow. "You feel more comfortable letting your emotions out with Mai than me?"

"_Yes_,_ I mean no_,_ wait, is that a trick question_?"

I sighed. "I'll see you at home, Zuko."

"_Katara, wait_._ I didn't mean it like that_."

I hung up my phone and looked at my friends. I smiled as Aang tried to put his arm around Toph, but Toph gave him a look that said "go kick rocks". Well maybe not kick rocks, but maybe "get off" with a different word besides _get_ if you know what I mean.

"Who was that?" Suki asked me. Sokka had his arm around her. She leant into his arms, her head on his shoulder.

"That was Zuko," I said. "I think he's at home. I should probably get going or he might think something is up," I said, standing up.

"Here, we'll walk you to your car," Toph said, hitting Suki's hand. They got up out of their seats and walked with me.

"Bye, Katara," Sokka and Aang said. I waved to them, walking out of the coffee shop.

"What are you going to do once you get home?" Toph asked, leaning on the car.

I shrugged, putting Paxton into the car seat. "I don't know. I'm probably going to have to talk to Zuko about the whole Mai thing. If he's not going to talk then I'll just talk to Mai."

"And remember, two can play that game," Suki smirked. "If he won't give you answers just go to Jet's house and start talking back with him."

"I'm not going to be some slut, you guys," I said, closing Paxton's door. "Besides, I'm trying to get on Zuko's good side, remember?"

"Right," Toph said slowly.

"You guys still going out?" I asked, pulling out my keys.

They shrugged.

"I don't know," Suki spoke. "Sokka is supposed to be taking me to his house for dinner, but I don't know if we're still doing that. Since it's just…" she took out her phone, "6:00pm, we might just head home. I don't know, I'll ask him. He still has to help Hakoda."

"I'm not doing anything. Twinkletoes is just dropping me off," Toph said tiredly.

"Well, I better go," I said, checking my phone again.

"We need to have another get together night like this," Suki said, opening my car door.

"Yeah," I sat down. "Hey, how about this weekend we go to that fancy restaurant with the guys and dress all fancy like we did when we went in high school for prom?"

"Sounds great!" Toph said excitedly. "And by everyone who do you mean?"

I thought for a moment. "You know, me, you, Suki, Zuko, Sokka, Aang, and maybe even Ty Lee and Haru…Who else?"

Suki spoke up. "Ooooh, how about we invite Mai and Jet. There will be so much tension between you and Zuko. We'll actually see what's going on, if there is something."

"Yeah, and maybe we should invite Kyle Anthony and Jet Parks as well," I said sarcastically.

Toph rose up her hands. "Hey, I never said anything about Mai or Jet. But it would be funny. You know what, I'll tell Mai and Jet so you won't have to, Katara. It'll be my treat." She closed my door with a smirk.

I frowned. "You guys are the best."

"We know," they said at the same time, waving at me.

...

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	24. Chapter 24

***Disclaimer- I own nothing***

**...**

**Chapter 24**

**Zuko's POV**

Katara filed her nails quietly on the bed. She sighed, once I yelled happily at killing a zombie. "You know at times, you're like a little kid?" I ignored her and continued to play on my new PS3.

"Want to play with me?" I offered but she shook her head. I smirked and stopped the game to look over at her.

"No, Zuko. I do not want to play your stupid little—" I interrupted her by laughing. I kissed her lips, "get your hands off me!"

"You scared I'll win?" I questioned. She snatched the controller out of my hand and sat down next to me on the floor.

"Fine. What do I do?" she demanded.

"Just watch out for the zombies, then—" I hit a button on the controller, which made my character shoot a zombie, "there you go."

She nodded, taking control of the controller again. A few minutes late of letting her win, I yanked her onto my lap and pushed the controllers aside.

"You won, Katara," I held her on my lap as I kissed her neck.

"Zuko, we didn't even finish," she said softly, leaning into me.

I sighed. "You just have to win everything don't you?" She didn't answer me. I pulled her down and she stopped fighting when I locked lips with her. But she shoved my chest back when I started to pull on her tank top.

"What?" I panted, in a slight daze. She sighed and touched at my scar on my eye. She did that every time she was deep in thought.

"Nothing," she said, but decided it wasn't the right answer. "It's always about _that_ isn't it?"

I cleared my throat. "About what, Kat—"

She cut me off. "Don't Katara me, Zuko. You know what I'm talking about."

"Um…no."

"It's always about sex isn't' it?" she answered. "With you."

"Ok?" I turned my game off and slid into the bed with her. "What's wrong?"

She sighed. "We can do so much better with our lives, Zuko."

"Here we go," I mumbled, putting my hands behind my head.

"It's like, what do you want from me, Zuko," she continued. "Do you want me to be a good mom to Paxton, a good girlfriend to you, or do you just think of me as someone to have sex with."

"Can I choose all three," I tried.

She grunted. "I'm serious."

"I am too, but I don't understand what you're asking."

"Just forget it." She turned on her side away from me.

"No," I said pulling her back towards me. "You can't bring up something and then say 'just forget it'" I mocked her.

"I don't sound like that," she crossed her arms.

I clicked my tongue. "Did you, Toph, and Suki go out and talk about me?"

"I was angry with you that you went out with Mai when clearly I helped you out the other night," she started to raise her voice.

"Mai just gave me some advice on how to deal with death," I said. "C'mon, I love you, Katara; I wouldn't do anything to hurt you. I promise."

She smiled and leaned into me. I pressed on her lips softly, and then pressing deeper as the kiss progress. I moved my hand to her cheek while she put her arms around my neck. And just when I was about to take the kiss to the next level, I broke it. And just like that the kiss was over.

This time she frowned. I waited for her to speak.

"Huh, so you actually do listen to what I say," she said, her arms still around my neck. She went on top of me, placing her hands onto my chest.

"I kind of have to," I smirked. "So, you wanna talk or do you want to get right to it."

She blushed. "Zuko, you—"

I kissed her before she could say anything else, but was soon interrupted as the door swung open. Paxton came in our room carrying one of her bears.

"Paxton!" Katara and I yelled simultaneously. Katara rolled off of me and sat on her side of the bed.

Paxton walked towards Katara and went under the covers, sliding right between me and Katara. "Mommy, I had another nightmare."

Katara still looked startled from the outburst. "Uh…It's okay, honey." She rubbed her back.

"Can I stay in here with you guys for the night?" Paxton smiled, lying back in the bed as if we already had answered her question.

"Of course you can stay, Pax," Katara said, looking at me. "Your father and I don't mind."

I coughed. "Yeah, Paxton, it's not like your mom and I were doing anything in the bed." Katara frowned. "Just kidding, Pax. You can stay as long as you want."

Paxton smiled. "My dream was horrible. I dreamed that some big bear was chasing me down the street, and when I was running I fell and bees started to attack me."

I raised an eyebrow. "Where did that dream come from?"

She shrugged. "The teacher was talking to us about how bees make honey and how bears like to eat it. She showed us a video."

"What kind of video did she show you?" Katara asked.

"She showed us Winnie the Pooh," Paxton shifted in the bed, kicking my thigh. I grunted in return. "Do you think that you guys can buy me a bear for my birthday? It's coming up soon."

Katara sighed, playing in Paxton's hair. "Your birthday is coming up soon."

"First, you wanted another sibling, now you want a Winnie the Pooh bear?" I asked. "Which one do you really want?"

"Why'd you have to bring that up, Zuko?" Katara mumbled, giving me a dirty look.

Paxton smiled. "I want another sibling, I want another sibling! Are you guys going to get me one?"

I gave her two thumbs up. "You bet."

Katara hit me in the arm. "We're going to have to wait on that, Pax."

Paxton frowned. "Why?"

"Paxton," Katara sighed, "I haven't really thought about that."

"It's up to you?" Paxton said yawning.

She nodded

"I wish that I could get the child with my own money," Paxton said. "Do you think I can get one with my money I've saved in the piggy bank?"

"Honey, you're not even old enough to technically 'buy' a child." Katara laughed, using hand quotations for buy.

"Oh, well when I'm older I'm going to buy one?" Paxton said, lying down, drifting off to sleep.

"Okay, good night, honey," Katara looked at me and frowned, speaking low. "You're such a jerk."

I laughed. "Yeah, the jerk that got you pregnant."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh I almost forgot. The whole gang is meeting up at that fancy restaurant we used to go to back in high school tomorrow."

I nodded. "Okay."

"Toph and Suki were thinking about inviting Mai and Jet to come along."

I raised my good eyebrow. "Cool."

"I was also thinking about inviting Teo Johnson and Kyle Anthony, too."

I snorted. "Didn't something happen between Suki and Kyle? I remember when I went to the movies with Sokka; some guy was talking about some girl who did something in one of the theaters. I can't remember."

"It's better if you don't, Zuko," she said, going of to sleep.

I lied back in the bed with a frown. "What time are we supposed to be there?"

She sighed. "Probably at 6:00."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," she said annoyed. "I'm sure."

I smirked. "You know we could go in the guest room to—"

"Forget it, Zuko."

…**.**

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	25. Chapter 25

***I own nothing of Avatar: The Last Airbender***

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**Chapter 25**

**Katara's POV**

"But mommy, I want to go to the party with everyone," Paxton asked, jumping on the bed. "Chen's gonna be there."

I quickly put on my hooped earrings, slipping on my pink spaghetti strapped dress that fell at mid thigh. "Paxton, you know you can't come with us, and it's not a party. Chen is staying with his grandparents, and you're staying with Azula. She should be over here soon." I put on my gladiator sandals that went with my dress.

"I'm spending the night with Aunt Azula?" Paxton said with a smile. "Do you think Chan is coming?"

I shrugged, applying lip gloss to my lips, looking in the mirror. "I don't know, honey. I thing Chan had to work today."

"Let's go, Katara," Zuko said, walking into the room, fixing his tie.

I smiled. "You're actually wearing a suit." I frowned, looking at the shoes he was wearing. "But you've got to be fu—freaking kidding me about those converses you have on."

"I think daddy looks nice, mommy?" Paxton said.

"Thanks, Paxton," he said. "What do you want me to do?"

I sighed. "Keep the suit on. Hurry up, Zuko! I want to get to the restaurant on time."

"She's here, mommy!" Paxton said, looking out the window, running downstairs to get the door.

Zuko sighed, switching into his dress shoes. "Do you think that going out with the crew is a good idea?"

I cursed as my eyeliner fell onto the floor. "Why wouldn't it be? We're hanging out with friends. If you don't want to go…"

"I never said that," he said quickly. "Are we driving there?"

I walked out of the bedroom door, going down the steps. "What do you think?"

He followed me downstairs. We greeted Azula and Chan who came in seconds later after him.

"Azula, you guys are here just in time," I said, hugging her.

Chan turned towards us. "Zuko, haven't seen you in a while."

Zuko frowned. "Yeah, it's been a while. I think the last time was at that party you had. You kicked me out." Chan laughed.

Azula sighed. "Zuzu, how long are you going to be gone? Should I book a hotel for you guys to stay the night in?"

He frowned. "No, we should be back in a couple hours, Azula."

I walked out the door. "If you need us, just call."

"Have a good night," Chan said.

"A really good one," Azula added with a smirk.

Zuko got into the car and we pulled off the driveway.

"I do look nice, don't I," he said, fixing his collar. "This suit really is helping my looks come out."

...

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	26. Chapter 26

***Disclaimer-I own nothing*  
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**...  
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**Chapter 26**

**Zuko's POV**

The restaurant was packed once we got there. Parties of people were dressed in all white. Cameras flashes blinded as you got up close to the restaurants. Laughter and food filled the air. It was a wedding.

"Suki just texted me," Katara said, getting out of the car. "We have to hurry. We're always late for something."

I scoffed, pulling out the keys and getting out of the car. "We have plenty of time, Katara. Calm down. It's not even close to 6:00."

"What do you mean not close?" she asked. "We got five minutes to get into the restaurant. And look at this line!"

"Didn't we get reserved?" I asked, catching up with her.

She nodded. "I don't think these people will let us through."

I grabbed her hand. "We'll see, c'mon."

We walked closer towards the hectic line. Voices got louder and louder once we reached the door. A young woman stood there with a checklist. She looked irritated as a man tried to explain something to her.

"Please, my name should be on the list," the man said. "My last name is Smith. Garret Smith. Please, check again."

"Sorry, sir," she said plainly. "Your name isn't on here. I have other people waiting so if you will," she pointed to the end of the line.

The man frowned and walked away holding his head down.

We walked up to the lady.

"Can I help you?"

"Uh…yeah, we're here with a party," I said, rubbing my neck sheepishly.

She sighed. "Last names."

"Sozin," I said. "Oh…and Marine."

She flipped through some pages, slowly taking her time as if we had all day. "Are you Zuko Sozin?"

I nodded.

"I have you, but in here it is down as Zuko and Katara Sozin," she looked up from the clip board. "Did you guys just get married?"

I saw Katara roll her eyes. She was starting to get impatient. "Uh…well."

"Just go inside," she said with a sigh. "Next time, have the right names down, please."

I nodded. "Thanks." I took hold of Katara's hand and we went inside. "So much for getting here on time." I smirked.

She rolled her eyes and spotted the table everyone was at. "There they are." She hurriedly walked towards the table.

I looked over everyone. Aang and Sokka both were dressed in smart black suits, shiny black shoes and crisp white shirts. Huh, we all matched.

And I'm not going to go into explaining what the girls wore, but Suki wore a strapless red party dress and some stilettos with hoop earrings, and Toph wore a light green halter-top dress thingy that came to her thigh and some diamond stud earrings. Yeah, Toph in a dress got me stunned, too.

"It's about time you guys got here," Toph said with a smile. "You look nice." She was speaking to Katara.

"Thanks, but you can speak for one of us," Katara said.

"Hey, I look ok," I said.

"It's okay, dude," Sokka said. "I had trouble getting dressed, too. Suki told me to change three times."

"I didn't have to change at all," Aang said proudly.

"I'm so happy you wore a dress," Katara said, looking over at Toph.

"I had to bribe her into wearing one," Suki said.

Katara looked over at Toph. "How much did you bribe her, Suki?"

"50 bucks, no big deal…"

"What—no big deal!" Katara screeched.

"Yes, Sugar Queen; save the yelling for later," Toph winked suggestively.

Katara rolled her eyes and sat down next to Toph. I sat somewhat across from her, sitting next to Sokka.

"Did you guys all come together?" Katara asked.

Suki nodded. "Yeah, Toph came over early today. Sokka was already at my house, and Aang came over a little later."

"I should've come with you guys," Katara said, glaring at me.

"We got here in time didn't we?" I said. "Besides, everyone else hasn't even come yet."

"Actually," Toph said. "Ty Lee and Haru just got here. They're struggling to get inside. See." She pointed over to the doors where we walked in. And sure enough, there was Ty Lee talking with the lady with the clip board.

"I'll take care of it," Sokka said, getting up out of his chair.

"Who else is coming?" I asked.

Suki looked over at Katara and smirked. "Toph called Mai and Jet to come. Mai just texted me and said that she'll be here momentarily."

"We're hoping that Jet carpooled with Mai," Toph said. "Oh, and another thing, I personally invited Kyle to come."

Suki gasped. "You did not?"

Toph laughed. "I did."

"Wait," I said a little confused. "The Kyle Anthony that Suki went out with?"

"Yeah," Aang said. "You got to hear the story. There are a lot of stories that you got to hear. Did Katara tell you about the whole story on Sokka?"

I raised my eyebrow. "No. Wait, what's this story on Suki and Kyle?"

"It's nothing," Suki said, staring at Toph and Aang. "Too many people all ready know."

"What will one person do?" I asked with a smile.

She rolled her eyes. "A lot."

A hand touched my shoulder. I turned around. "Hey, Mai," I said, standing up to hug her. My smile soon faded into a frown as I noticed who was behind her. "Jet."

...

**Please read and reaview**

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	27. Chapter 27

***Disclaimer- I own nothing*  
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**Chapter 27**

**Katara's POV**

I smiled as Ty Lee and Haru sat down at our table. Kyle joined us a little later. And right when they sat down, Toph started talking to Ty Lee about why they were taking so long to get here. And then, the other _two_ showed up: Jet and Mai.

"Jet, Mai what a nice surprise," I forced myself to smile as Zuko hugged Mai.

"Hey, guys," They both said. Mai sat in between Suki and I. Toph pulled up a seat next to mine, and Ty Lee was on her right.

Come to think of it. We were all separate. The girls sat all on one side, and the boys sat on the other. Mai sat across from Zuko; I sat across from Sokka; Toph sat across from Jet; Suki sat across from Kyle; Aang was at the end next to Suki, but I wouldn't call it the end because of how close we were sitting; Ty Lee sat across from Haru.

"So," Aang said, rubbing his hands together. "When can we get started with our ordering?"

"The lady said that she'll get us a waiter as soon as she can," Toph said, checking her phone.

I hit her arm. "Let's try to enjoy ourselves without our phones, Toph."

She snorted. "Fine."

"Kyle," Mai said. "I haven't seen you in a while. Are you and Suki still doing something?"

He rubbed his face sheepishly. I had to admire that he still was still pretty attractive. "No, we ended that relationship a while ago, actually."

"Ohhh," Mai said. "Why?" I glanced at Suki who had her left elbow propped up on the table, her head resting in her hand. She had begun to tap her finger on the table.

He laughed, which I was kind of surprised at. "I don't know exactly why we broke up. I guess we just didn't have that same interest in each other anymore." He shrugged.

"Oh, you mean like you did at the movie theater back in high school?" Mai continued. I frowned. Back in high school, well, just school in general, Mai and Suki never got along together, and I mean never. They would have so many fights, especially in middle school. It became so bad that they had to make sure they didn't see each other in the hallways.

"Ok, can you quit with all that!" Suki shouted. The restaurant suddenly became quiet. "If all you were going to do was talk about things in the past, you can go home, ok?"

Mai smirked. "Sokka, I think you need to get your girl in check."

Suki frowned angrily, got up, and walked out of the restaurant, pushing the entrance doors fiercely.

"Suki!" Sokka shouted. "Thanks a lot, Mai." He got up and followed Suki.

Mai shrugged. "Hey, it was just a joke."

"Huh, nobody laughed," Toph said, following Sokka. I stared over at Zuko who had his head in his hands. I shook my head and sighed, following right behind them.

"I think inviting Mai was a bad idea," I heard Aang mumble.

"You think?" Kyle mumbled back.

"Guys stop," Zuko said. "You know that Suki and Mai don't get along well. "Give her a break." He sighed. "You should apologize, Mai. Besides, she didn't have to invite you."

"Fine," she said, standing up. "But I'm not promising anything."

"You don't have to," Zuko said sternly. "Hurry up; I'm not going to wait all night to eat."

She rolled her eyes.

"Suki, calm down," Sokka said. "Just forget about what she said."

"Sokka's right," I said, putting my hand on her shoulder. "You know how Mai is, Suki. She's always like that."

"To you," Toph said, finishing my sentence.

Suki rolled her eyes. "If she says something to me like that again, I am going to punch her in her face."

"I'm not blaming you for it," Toph said, glancing at her nails.

"Hmm, and just when I was going to apologize," We all turned around to see Mai standing behind us. Her face was blank. "Look, Suki, maybe I shouldn't have said what I said."

"Maybe?" Suki asked.

"Don't push it." Mai frowned. "I'm sorry, ok.

"Yeah, you should be," Sokka said. I rolled my eyes.

"Sokka, go back in the restaurant with the guys?" Toph said, pointing to the restaurant.

"But I want to stay," he said. "Are you going inside?"

"Yeah, we'll go. C'mon, Katara. We'll see you guys inside," she said to Suki and Mai.

I gave Suki a sympathetic smile and followed Toph and Sokka inside.

**...**

***Read and Review! Yeah, I know there is a little OOCness in here. Thanks GameFreak, for the little scenes you gave. You can check it out in the previous chp.***


	28. Chapter 28

***Disclaimer- I own nothing***

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**Chapter 28**

"What happened. "Kyle asked as we sat back down. "Is Suki okay?"

"Yeah," Toph said, not looking up. "Did the waitress come?"

I nodded. "Yeah, we got the party table dinner? This is a gathering, right?""

"Some gathering this is," Aang mumbled.

Mai and Suki came back into the restaurant and sat down. Everything looked to be fine…

"You guys good?" Aang asked.

"Good as we can be," Mai said.

As everyone started to get along and talk, I turned my ear to the conversation that was going on besides me: Suki and Kyle.

"Look, I'm sorry about what Mai said," Kyle said. "I probably shouldn't have even come."

"It's ok," Suki said softly. "Just because we broke up doesn't mean we can't hang out right?"

"We broke up for no reason," Kyle said. "Seeing you with Sokka kind of make me jealous, sorta. I didn't think you guys would get back together." He laughed. "The whole thing between us in middle school was something, wasn't it?"

Suki smirked. "Yeah, let's not talk about that."

He smiled. "Yeah, it was embarrassing on my part, too."

They laughed together.

"Do you think we should order now?" Ty Lee asked the table.

"No need to," Sokka said. "We ordered for everyone."

I turned around as the waiter brought over the bottle of wine and our food. Dinner consisted of different entrées being shared throughout the table.

Dessert varied between everyone: Toph and Aang shared a slice of chocolate cheese cake; Suki, Sokka, and I shared churros with a side of ice cream, Zuko ordered himself a big plate of chocolate fudge cake; and Jet, being the most different, got himself a strawberry shortcake.

After dinner and dessert, we all left the table with our drinks and headed outside or into another section of the restaurant. Suki and Sokka had taken to sitting at the outdoor tables and make out. Aang and Toph were hanging out on the small swing-seat by the entrance of the restaurant. He had his arm wrapped around her. Her head rested on his shoulder.

Haru took Ty Lee home, and Kyle also left, saying that he had some things he had to finish up at his house. Mai stayed with Zuko, saying how she wanted to help him finish up his cake; however, that was something I wasn't too fond of believing.

I sighed, looking out the big glass window, up at the sky.

"Mind if I join you?" Jet asked, taking a spot beside the rail.

I shrugged. "No."

"What's up?"

I smiled vaguely. "It's nothing."

"Nothing," he repeated. "You got to be thinking about something."

I smiled. "Why do you ask?"

"Dunno." He shrugged, taking another sip of his drink. "Just trying to making conversation, I guess."

"Are you drunk?"

He smiled. "I never get drunk."

**Zuko's POV**

"You gonna finish that," Mai asked me. "You still have another slice left. Finish it. Remember, if you finish that whole cake, the next time you come here, you and someone else get to eat free."

"Why do you care? I wouldn't be taking you?" I said, finishing up my glass of wine. "Besides, I think don't think I can finish anymore. Sorry."

She frowned, pointing to my glass, "Maybe it's from all that wine you've been drinking."

"I'm not drunk, Mai," I told her. "You've seen me drunk before. Remember, I called you pretty when I was drunk."

She frowned. "So I'm not pretty anymore?"

"Yup, that's it," I said sarcastically, drinking out of the wine bottle.

"You're drunk."

I laughed. "Nope, I might be full of this cake, but I'm not drunk," I glanced over at Jet who was talking to Katara. "I could drink more, if I wanted to. That's how drunk I'm not."

"That makes no sense," she frowned. "Look, Zuko, I'm, like, one of your best girl friends. And growing up with you, at parties, I know when you're drunk, and when you're trying to flirt."

I grunted. "If we're best friends..." I started, using my fork to nudge at the uneaten piece of cake. "Why do you want to know if I'm flirting with you? I mean, we are just 'friends', right?" I continued once she didn't speak. "I guess Katara was right. You really are still in to me." I stood up and walked away from her.

**...**

**Read and Review! Sorry for the late update guys! been really busy with everything. Thanks for the review**s


	29. Chapter 29

***Disclaimer- I own nothing of Avatar: The Last Airbender***

**...**

**Chapter 29**

**Katara's POV**

"I don't know," I said, laughing at his comment. "I've never really seen you drunk before, Jet."

He grunted. "That's because I know when to stop drinking; unlike some people, not going to name any names."

I smiled.

He sighed, clearing his throat in the process. "Um…how have you and Zuko been?"

I hesitated. "Good, I guess."

"Do you know?" He smirked, cracking his knuckles.

I shrugged, starting to feel very apathetic talking to him. "Everything is fine, Jet. Why are you worrying?"

"I'm not worrying?" he quickly said. "I'm just…making conversation."

"Right," I said, finishing up the liquid in my glass. "I guess I'll just go make conversation elsewhere." I turned around.

"Katara, I wasn't trying to get into your business," he said. "I…was just…"

"Please don't say 'making conversation," I said, rubbing my throbbing forehead. "You know what, I think I'm gonna leave, I'm starting to get a headache."

"I'm sorry," Jet said walking with me back to the table.

"For what?" I questioned. I turned towards Zuko who was putting his cake in a to-go box. "You ready to leave."

"Yeah" he said, glancing over at Mai then back at me. "Jet you got a ride?"

"Yeah, Mai and I rode together," he said, placing his glass on the table. "How about we all just leave together?"

We all nodded, walking towards the entrance. I motioned to Toph and Aang, who were actually cuddling up on the swing seat, to come down with us.

"Where are Suki and Sokka?" Aang asked. "I could've sworn I just saw them sitting by the tables."

We looked around.

"They probably went home too," Zuko said. "Sokka did say that he was going to try to get Suki tonight. I hope he didn't."

"Why?" I asked.

He snorted. "We made a made a bet that if he couldn't get her, he would have to pay me and Aang 10 dollars for five days."

"That's so stupid," Toph said unenthused. "Why didn't you just tell him to pay you 50 dollars today?"

Aang hesitated before he spoke. "Oh, I didn't think about that."

"Boys," Toph mumbled.

"I'll call her," I said, taking out my phone.

"Yeah, yeah call her!" Aang said excitedly. "That'll prevent Sokka from doing anything. Call them."

"No, don't," Toph said. "If we were in Suki's position, she wouldn't call. Suki would be mad at us for interrupting them. Beside we're her best friends," Toph said pointing to her and me. "Even though Suki loves Sokka, that's not the only reason she's with him. I mean, that wouldn't be my only reason."

"What would be your reason?" Aang asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Oh, look at Aang being protective of _his_ girl," I laughed. "You guys are so cute. C'mon, Toph, show him some love."

Toph rolled her eyes. "Um…not that I don't want to…"

"Sure, leave him hanging," Zuko mumbled.

"Didn't you guys come with Sokka and Suki?" I asked.

Aang suddenly gasped. "They left without us? They couldn't be in that much of a hurry to do nothing."

"Wait," Toph said, glancing at her phone, "Suki just texted me." She began to type quickly.

"Where are they?" I asked.

"They're looking for us…"

"Where are they?" I repeated.

I saw her frown after she read the message Suki sent. "They're in the car."

"Are they that desperate?" I hear Mai say.

We all looked up; searching for the car Suki and Sokka were in. We all frowned once we found them, the only car with the music turned all the way up to its limit.

"What are you guys doing in here?" Toph yelled over the music. "We were looking all over for you guys."

Suki laughed, turning down the stereo. "We've been here for the longest waiting for you to come out. "

"You should've at least told us where you were," Mai said seriously. "We thought you took the car and left."

Suki frowned. "Why would I do that?"

"Because you're Suki," Toph said plainly. "What have you guys been doing?"

"Sokka, did you do it?" Aang asked.

Sokka hesitated before he spoke. "I didn't—"

"Pay up, Sokka," Zuko said, cutting him off.

"I never said anything," Sokka said.

"I can see it in your face, man," Zuko said, putting his hand out. "You lost."

"Lost what?" Suki asked, running her hand through her hair.

Sokka paid 10 dollars to both Aang and Zuko, ignoring Suki's question.

"The bet," Aang said.

Suki frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. "What bet?"

"Ask your boyfriend," Zuko said, putting his money inside of his wallet. Suki turned to look at Sokka.

"Well?"

"Suki, it was just some stupid bet," Sokka said. "It was nothing."

"Ok, then what was it about?" she persisted impatiently.

Sokka sighed. "We made a bet to see if I could get you in bed tonight, but since I lost, I have to pay ten dollars to them this whole week."

Suki stared at the black haired boy she called her boyfriend. "You were using me?" I stared at her, she was unusually calm.

"No," he hesitated. "I actually thought I would win."

"You were using me?" Suki questioned again.

Sokka sighed louder. "Suki it's not like that. I love you, I do, but today the guys wanted to see if…if…"

"If you would get laid," Suki said, finishing his sentence. Sokka nodded, and she scoffed. "You're pathetic."

"I know," Sokka confessed. "But you'd be in it, too—"

"Why do you guys always want sex?" she said quickly.

"Huh, and I thought I was only one who thought that," I said, looking over at Zuko.

"It is in the nature of being a man," Sokka said. "You got a lot of seed and you gotta spread it around."

Toph grunted, making a noise that meant Sokka was going about that the wrong way. "Don't say it like that, Sokka. It makes you seem like a man-whore."

Sokka turned to look over at Suki. "Look, Suki, I find you SO attractive I can't help myself."

She rolled her eyes. "Why does the relationship have to be encircled around sex? Why do you make it seem like an owner and pet relationship?"

"Oh, so you want to be on top next time?" he said. "That's cool, that's fine with me. I'll be the pet, you be the owner."

Suki frowned. "That's not what I mean"

Sokka frowned and looked over at me. "Katara, a little help on this one."

I sighed. "She means that if you guys would spend some time just as a couple without getting intimate ALL the time, when you guys do get intimate, it'll be more special—and it'll rock her world all the more."

"You didn't have to add the last part, Katara," Suki said.

"Ooookay, I get it," he said. "I'm sorry if I made it seem like that. For now on, you get to choose when we get to be intimate."

Suki scoffed. "That's not gonna catch on with you."

"Yeah, it might not," he said. "But we could try." He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, kissing her on the cheek.

Toph clapped. "Oh, well played, my young friend well played." She turned to look at Zuko. "See, now Sparky why can't you be like that to Katara? Snoozles did everything right."

"I am like that to Katara," Zuko said.

"No you're not!" I said.

"It's not always about the sex, Katara," he sighed. "I thought we just discussed this."

I grunted. "Yeah, but when we get home, you're ready to pull my clothes off."

"I wish someone would do that for me," Toph said, hitting Aang in the arm. "Aang is too shy to do anything."

"Don't get all in your feeling, Katara," Mai said, crossing her arms over her chest. "When Zuko and I used to date—"

I put my hand up, cutting her off. "I really don't give two shits about what you and Zuko used to do when you guys dated. I seriously don't care, Mai. And whoever said anything to you because last time I checked I was talking to Zuko, not Mai Tousling."

Mai turned around, looking over her shoulder. "I know that you aren't talking to me."

I looked over at Toph who smirked. "You're the only Mai Tousling here, aren't you?" I said snidely.

"You know what, Katara," Mai started. "I try really hard to like you because Zuko told me to, but I'm really starting to hate you now."

"Mai, what are doing?" Zuko said. "Are you trying to start something?"

"Why do you care what I'm trying to start, Zuko?" she asked. "I'm talking to Katara."

"You're presenting your thoughts to everyone here if you haven't noticed," Toph said.

"Listen, short stuff, stay out of big people's conversations, ok? It's rude to jump in conversations like that," Mai said, still staring at me."

Toph bawled up her fist. "Who the hell do you think you're talking to, you bit—girl."

"What were you about to say?" Mai said. "Go on, say it."

Aang pulled Toph away. "You know what your parole officer said about fighting."

"No, its okay, Toph," I said. "We can take her together.'

"Who are you guys supposed to be," Mai said with a laugh, "the double duo? Remember, I used to fight back in high school: Me, Ty Lee, and Azula, and you know how Azula was."

"Now they have three," Suki said stepping in. "I've always wanted to fight you."

"Wow, that makes it even better," Mai said sarcastically.

"You should leave, Mai," Zuko said. "You're getting out of control. I would rather have my sister here than you. You're starting to act like how she used to act."

Mai slapped Zuko hard on the cheek. We all gasped. "How dare you compare me to your sister?"

Zuko stared at her wide eyed. He blinked his eyes a couple times and rubbed at his cheek. "You mother-fu—"

I put my hand over his mouth before he could continue. His eyes were swarmed with anger. "Let me do the honors, Zuko." And with that being said, I swung hard at Mai's pathetic face.

**...**

***Please Read and Review! Thanks for all the reviews. I have many story alerts and favorite authors, but I don't see you down for reviews. Do you think you guys could write a review? Thanks. Oh and thanks to GameFreak and to all the others who review.***


	30. Chapter 30

***Disclaimer- I own nothing of Avatar: The Last Airbender**

**...**

**Chapter 30**

**Zuko's POV**

Mai staggered just barely before surging forward at Katara, this time pushing her up against the car. "So you wanna fight, Katara? OK, come at me."

Katara responded by lunging her knee up, catching Mai square in the stomach. She fell onto one knee, gasping for the breath that was clearly knocked out of her. She breathed in heavily and got up, punching Katara in her nose. And that's when the blood gushed. Before I could even react, Katara threw her right fist, smashing it into the side of Mai's face. Mai fell back, but quickly got enough strength to kick Katara in the ribs.

She doubled over; letting out a cough, her arms covered her stomach as a reaction. She winced and looked up, seeing the look of triumph in Mai's eyes. She let out an enraged cry and kicked out, catching Mai in the shin, causing her to stumble back.

"Babe, are you okay!" I asked, helping Katara up. I held her in my arms. Sokka, Jet, and Aang came up beside me. She sniffled, wiping her nose with the back of her hand. "Let me finish this off for you."

Katara shook her head, clutching her bleeding nose. "No, I can do it. A little blood hasn't stopped me from doing anything else." I raised my good eyebrow.

"There you go, Katara," Toph cheered. "Beat her down. See, I taught her how to fight."

"I'm sure you did," Suki said, giving a Katara a tissue.

"Are you done crying, or do you want to call it a quits?" Mai asked, wiping the blood from her split lip on her sleeve.

"You know, Mai, I feel sorry for you." Katara moved me aside and looked at Mai. "And I know that you are jealous of me with Zuko, but you just have to move on and except that _I'm _with Zuko. And you know what, you're a selfish bastard and I hope one day you'll realize that you are, and you change."

I smirked. "Katara's right, even if she didn't curse you out, which I so wanted to do, you shouldn't hate on me and Katara. We're over Mai. What we had back in the past is over."

Sokka also spoke up. "And you should be lucky that my sister called us off. If you would've have hurt her badly, I don't know what I would've done, but you would be in the hospital right now." He was serious.

"Seriously, just go, Mai." Jet said, crossing his arms. "And you're not riding with me you're going to have to find your own way. I'm sorry, but whoever hurts my friends hurts me. And you hurt Katara, which is worse."

Mai sighed, chuckling softly. "You guys are some…" her voice trailed off.

"You got something to say?" Toph said, putting her hands on her hips.

Mai growled through clenched teeth, grabbing her purse from off the ground. "Nothing at all. I'm gonna tell."

"Tell who?" Sokka asked. "My dad's a cop and he can sue you for beating up on my sister, his daughter."

She was silenced. She shook her head and started to walk away, raising her middle finger up at us.

"Some girl," Toph said, picking up a stone off the ground.

"Toph don't," Aang said, taking the rock out of her hand.

"Are you okay," I said to Katara. Sokka and Suki started to examine her nose. "Is it broken?" I asked them.

Suki shook her head. "No, just bruised thankfully."

I nodded, pulling Katara into a big hug. "I could've finished her off you know."

She smiled. "If I would've let you do that, you probably would have killed her or hurt her really bad."

I smiled and looked down at Katara and kissed her right there on the spot. That was _my_ Katara, always being the bigger person in the group, always standing up for her man: Me, Zuko Sozin. Man, did I love her. You know what; I'm thinking I'm gonna rock her world tonight, big time.

"Ok, ok enough with the tongue sucking," I heard Toph say. We broke apart. "I gotta say, Sugar Queen, you did pretty well there, but I could've done a little better"

"You would've left her with a serious injury, Toph," Suki said. Toph shrugged.

I smiled. "Thanks you guys."

"I don't believe in fighting, but good job Katara," Aang said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "And if you all will excuse me, I will be heading home." Aang got inside of Sokka's car.

"I'm right with you, Twinkletoes. Later snitches," Toph said, getting inside of the car. Sokka and Suki followed them, both leaving with a wave.

"Some day this was, wasn't it?" Katara asked as I helped her into the car.

I smirked. "Do you want to finish it up once we get home?" I kissed at her neck.

She laughed. "I think I've had enough action for today." I smirked.

I nodded, starting up the car. "Ok, I'll let you pass this time."

**...**

**Meanwhile**

Mai Tousling stood, concentrating on her bedroom wall. The TV was on, but she wasn't watching it. Her old mahogany queen sized bed rested heavily on the new, blue carpet. The sky blue painted walls reflected the sunlight, and gave the room a sort of glow quality.

She picked up one of her many daggers and threw one against the wall. _Perfect_, she thought, as the dagger landed squarely onto the old photo she had hung onto her wall. She pulled out another dagger and repeated the technique, hitting the picture perfectly, again.

Walking over to the wall, she grabbed her daggers, pulling the picture with it. She sat on the foot of her bed, staring intently at the picture, reminiscing. Angered, she quickly ripped the picture in half, using her daggers, separating her from Zuko who had his arm over her shoulder.

She stood up, this time placing the side of the picture that Zuko was on onto her wall. She walked backwards a couple feet, standing where she was before. She picked up two of her daggers and threw them at the picture. Again, they hit the picture of Zuko perfectly. She smiled, twirling the dagger between her fingers, "This time, Zuko, you're not going to break my heart. I'm going to break you."

**...**

**Please Read and Review! **


	31. Chapter 31

***Disclaimer- I own nothing of Avatar: The Last Airbender**

...

**Chapter 31**

**Zuko's POV**

The sun beamed upon my face as I opened my eyes. I squinted, putting my hand on top of my eyebrow blocking the sunlight. I got up, groggily, and stood outside on the balcony. The sun was shining gloriously in the cloudless sky; the air was crisp as a gusty wind blew through my hair.

"You're up," a voice said behind me. I turned around, it was Katara.

"What's up?" I said, tiredly, walking towards her. "You feeling any better?"

"Yeah, I'm doing ok." She smiled, crossing her arms over her chest. "I just went to take Paxton to the daycare, but it's closed."

"For what?" I went into the bathroom and started to brush my teeth.

She leaned on the doorway. "Didn't say. I took her over to Azula's."

I was suddenly startled by the shrieking pitch of the front doorbell, bursting in my ear drums. My heart started to bounce vigorously as the screeching doorbell rang over in my still asleep body, cleansing it of all sound.

"Who is that?" I said, putting my hand over my ears.

Katara smiled. "Relax, it's probably the mail man giving us our mail."

I wiped my mouth on a towel. "I'll get it. How are these guys up so early?"

"It's 1:00 in the afternoon, Zuko," she said. "And put some pants and a shirt before you go out there."

I looked down to see myself wearing Mickey Mouse boxers and white socks. I smirked. "This will show them what we did last night." I went over to her and put both of my hands above her shoulder against the wall.

She shoved my arms away, rolling her eyes. "We didn't do anything." The doorbell rang again.

"Yeah, but it'll seem like it."

She rolled her eyes. "Just get the door."

I slipped on a t-shirt and turned to look at her. "No work?" The door bell rang, again.

She shook her head, getting irritated that door bell rang again. "You know what, I'll get the door."

I shrugged, putting on a t-shirt. "Ok, be right down." She started to walk out the room.

"You know what?" I heard her say as she opened the door.

"What?" I yelled, coming down the steps. I looked up at the door, and was startled by who was there. "Mai." I said. And she had a gun pointing right at Katara.

"Hello, Zuzu," Mai said, calling me by Azula's old nickname. "What a nice surprise, eh?"

"Mai, what do you want?" I asked her. "Where's Azula?"

"Do you actually think those punks would want to come here and hurt you two?" she said with a laugh. "Ty Lee would be too scared, and Azula's, well…she's a changed woman. Besides, if I told Azula I was coming here, she would kill me, literally."

"Don't talk about my sister that way," I said warningly, taking a step towards her. _I can't believe I was actually sticking up for Azula_.

"Take another step and I'll blast her to Kingdom Come," Mai said, putting her hand on the trigger.

My heart kicked into overdrive as she began to press the gun on Katara's head. "Mai," I said softly. "Please, don't—"

"Save the sweet talk for later, Sozin," she spat.

Before I could say anything else, Katara jumped up and wrestled Mai to the floor. My breath came out rapidly. "Katara, no!"

It was too late, the gun went off.

I ran over to where Katara and Mai fell. Mai pushed Katara off of her. She looked down at Katara's body, and then looked up at me, picking the gun back up, clearly unfazed at what happened.

I stared at Katara's body; the floor became reddened with blood. I searched the back of her body with my eyes, searching for a wound.

_First it was Uncle Iroh, now Katara_…"Mai, what the hell, Mai?" my voice cracked. I looked over at Katara's still body. I ran over to her. "What did she do to deserve this? Do you hate us that much?"

Mai pointed the gun at me and sneered. "She's gone, Zuko."

I kept staring at Katara, looking for a sign that she was still here, that she was still alive. "Is this what you wanted? Are you happy now?" She laughed, taking a step forwards towards me.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this…for you and Katara to be no more."

I stood up, "If it's because of my, why didn't you just kill me?"

She smiled. "I wanted you to be with me, Zuko, and now we can."

I scoffed, taking another glance down at Katara. I clenched my fist. "You miscalculated that. I love Katara more than I've ever loved you, Mai."

She was silent, but took out three of her daggers. "Big mistake."

I looked at her. "Are you crazy?"

"She's gone, Zuko," she repeated again, coldly.

"No, No, No..." I repeated. "She's not gone…she can't be."

She walked towards me, holding the dagger tightly in her hand. She put the dagger up to my neck. "Say it! She's gone, forever!"

I looked at her angrily. "No!" I pushed her hand away from my face and pushed her hard onto the ground. She landed onto the ground with a loud thump. I went over to her and lifted her up. Her head drooped as the dagger fell out of her hand. I looked at her; she looked up at me with worried eyes. "I should kill you, you know, but I don't want to be like you." I put her back onto the floor.

I took out my cell phone and dialed Sokka's number. "Yeah, this is Zuko…tell your father to get here pronto…I'm fine…Katara's not doing so well…I'll tell you later what happened…just meet me at the hospital…bye." I turned to look at Mai. "You better stay here or you'll be recognized as an armed fugitive." I turned away from her and picked up Katara, wedding style, and ran out towards the car. I sped off the driveway, leaving Mai inside the house.

**...**

**Zuko's POV**

I put my head in my hands. It's been three hours since the doctors called Katara. I sighed, "I really hope she's okay."

"She'll be okay, Sparky," Toph said, putting a hand on my thigh.

Suki took hold of my hand and squeezed it. "Yeah, don't think negative, Zuko."

"Did they say what her injuries were?" Aang asked.

I shook my head. "No. Right when I got here, they took her in, and they told me to wait out here in the lobby."

"I should've been there," Sokka said, sitting back, leaning his head against the wall. "This is all my fought." He slammed his fist on the chair arm.

"Don't beat up on yourself, Sokka," Suki said, trying to call him down. "You couldn't have prevented it. You weren't there."

"But I should've been!" he raised his voice. She sighed.

I stood up and walked towards the front desk. The front desk lady looked up at me. "Excuse me, but do you know when Katara Marine will be coming out."

She smiled kindly. "Are you Zuko Sozin?" I nodded. "She's been in surgery…so maybe a couple more minutes."

I blinked. "Surgery?" my voice cracked.

Her hazel eyes stared up at me. "You didn't know where she got shot?" I shook my head slowly. "She got shot in her shoulder. It actually—"

"Excuse me, nurse, but sir, are you Zuko Sozin," a doctor said, coming from out the back.

"Yes."

"You may come see Katara if you wish," he said with a smile. "Everything went well."

I looked over at the GAang and waved them over. "They said we could see her."

They hurriedly followed me up to her room. The nurse was in there, opening up the curtains, allowing sunlight it.

I went up to the bed, sighing with relief. I bent down and kissed her on her forehead. She was asleep, well, at least still asleep from the anesthesiologist.

"She was shot in the shoulder," the nurse said. He had an English accent. "It was pretty bad, too. You got here just in time. You're a good man."

"Thank you," I nodded, sitting on the edge of the bed. I moved the hair out of her face. "I almost lost you, you know?" I chuckled softly. "If I lost you, you don't even want to know what I would do."

There was a knock on the door before the doctor came in. "Hello there, a full house in here." We all shook his hand.

"How's she going to be, doc?" Sokka asked him while staring at Katara.

He sighed. "She needs plenty of rest. I'm sorry to say, but you guys should come back tomorrow and visit. She should be awake and she won't be in pain." I winced. The thought of Katara being in pain made me sick. "We have her on pain medicine that's makes here drowsy, so she might not wake up until tomorrow, so…"

"I'll stay," Sokka said to me.

"No, I will," I said. Sokka sighed, but nodded.

"See you tomorrow," he said. They all left with a wave.

…

**Read and Review. Sorry for not posting earlier, but fanfiction was being stupid and wouldn't let me log in. Hope you enjoy this chapter anyway.**


	32. Chapter 32

***Disclaimer- I own nothing of Avatar: The Last Airbender**

**...**

**Chapter 32**

**Zuko's POV**

I stayed up all night with Katara at the hospital, and she didn't awake on bit. It looked like she was dead, her face was pale and she was still in the position she was in when I saw her last night. I almost doubted her being alive but the red flashes on the heart monitor gave me hope that she was still here.

I sighed, sitting down in the chair next to Katara's bed. I looked at all the things that were attached onto her. There was one IV stuck in her left arm and one stuck in the other, a Nasal Cannula was set up in her nose, and a fingertip pulse oximeter was attached to her fingertip of her ring finger. Her shoulder wrappings wrapped her whole left shoulder and continuing all the way to her ribcage.

_This should be me in this hospital, not Katara_. I put my hand on her chest. _This is all my fought_. _C'mon, Katara, wake up_.

As if right on cue, Katara stirred. She opened her beautiful, blue eyes. She turned her head towards me and smiled. "You know," she said weakly, if you really wanted to touch my boobs so bad, you could've asked."

I smirked, chuckling softly. "Katara," I said her name softly. "I'm so glad you're ok."

"I'm not going to die on you that easily, Zu—" she paused in mid sentence, and cried out in pain.

"Katara! Nurse, doctor, come here, please!" I yelled out into the hallway. The doctors came rushing into our room. I glanced at the heart monitor. Katara's heart was beating faster and faster. The red flashed continued to bleep, going faster and faster with each heart beat Katara gave it.

"What's going on?" I asked hoarsely.

The doctors turned to me. "Nurse, get him out of here." The nurse nodded and turned towards me, she grabbed my arm.

"Sir, please, she'll be okay."

"No, no I have to stay with her!" I looked back at the heart monitor then at Katara then at the heart monitor. The red flashes were going and going and going and…line. A long beep came from out of the heart monitor. I tore away from the nurses hold. "Katara!"

"I said to get him out of here!" The doctors yelled. Two more nurses, this time men, grabbed me by my arms and pulled me out of the room, they immediately closed the door as I regained my balance from being practically thrown out of the room.

I looked around for another way to get into the room, but regained consciousness once I heard the words:

"Clear!"

"Doctor, she's…she's not waking."

"Do it again! Clear!"

I put my head in my hands and sat down on the floor, rocking back and forth. If there was one thing that Mai could do to break me, she found it. I couldn't stand seeing Katara in pain. I looked up…Mai; it was all Mai's fought. My phone vibrated. I looked at the caller ID, it was Toph.

"Hello?"

"_Sparky_! _How's Sweetness doing_?" she asked.

"I don't know," I said softly.

"_What do you mean you don't know_?" she asked seriously. "_Didn't you stay with her through the night_?"

"Yeah, but I…" I slammed my fist into the ground. "Augh! Toph, I don't know what's going on with Katara! She woke up and she was talking to me, and I was so happy, but then she was in pain and she went into—I don't know…heart attack mode or something."

"_Heart attack mode_?" she breathed. "_Where are you_?"

"Outside of our room."

"_I'll be there_," she said hanging up. I nodded hanging up as well. I put my head against the wall. I looked down at my phone as it started to vibrate again. This time it was Sokka.

"Hey."

"_My sister_..._how is she_?" he asked. I hesitated. "_Zuko_, _Zuko, please_." His voice cracked.

"I don't know, Sokka, she's hurting and I can't do anything about it," I said slowly.

"_I knew I should've been there_. _I should've been there to help her_," he said raising his voice. "_This is all of Mai's fought_, _and now s he's out there running around free_."

"Free?"

"_She got away, Zuko_," he said softly, "s_he got away_."

** …..**

***Read and Review Please! Cliff Hanger! Sorry for the late update. I've been having so much homework, and basketball has been taking up my whole time as well. Sorry guys, hope you enjoy that chp anyway!***

***GameFreak, my friend, saw you're writing a new story. The beginning is pretty good, continue it* **


	33. Chapter 33

***Disclaimer- I own nothing of Avatar: The Last Airbender**

**...**

**Chapter 32 **

**Katara's POV**

I slowly lift my heavy eyelids, quickly feeling the burn in my shocked retinas from the bright room before slamming them shut again. The muscles in my neck were stiff and sore, and the strong smell of anti-bacterial cleaner and coffee filled my nose. The sound of gurney's being pushed in the hallways loudly filled my ears, the television was also on. I tried opening my eyes again. Light from the windows reflected off the white walls, making me want to close my eyes again. I felt like I had slept for years, but I was still tired. I heard the beeping of a machine and slowly turned my head towards the source of the noise: a heart monitor.

I sighed, remembering what happened. My mind was fuzzy, the last remnants of a dream being chased away by the realization that I am awake again. With a mental sigh I allow my brain to focus. I turned my head and looked at the chairs next to me. Zuko wasn't there, but it was someone else…Jet. He was slouched back in the chair asleep. He had the TV remote in his lap, and a bag of Doritos was sitting between his legs. Powdered cheese was plastered on his fingers like glue. I smiled, he actually came.

The sound of the door immediately waked him out of his slumber. He sat up straight and wiped the cheese from the Doritos onto the pants leg of his jeans.

"Hey," he said to the people. I squinted, it was Toph and Suki. "What's up?" I squinted, trying to get a better look.

Suki shrugged. "Sokka said that Mai escaped."

"How?"

"Dunno," Toph said. "She told the cops that she wants Zuko, and if she doesn't have him, she'll…well, she didn't actually say." They glanced over at me. I quickly shut my eyes. "How's she doing?"

Jet yawned. "She hasn't awakened up yet. I really hope she does."

"We all do," Suki said, crossing her arms. "We'll stay with her, you can go Jet. Good luck with Sokka. Thanks, again." He nodded, taking a last glance at me and walking out of the room.

Suki and Toph both sat down in the chairs next to my bed. They started to discuss something incoherently between themselves.

"Did you hear what Zuko's going to do?" Toph said softly.

"Yeah, Sokka told me," Suki said sadly. "Katara's going to be so disappointed when she finds out."

Toph nodded. "I can't believe him." Toph turned her back against me. "He could die for all we know."

Suki sighed. "Zuko really cares about Katara. But this….this is just going overboard, it's too much. Why is he putting his life in danger?"

"Revenge?" Toph suggested.

Suki shrugged. "Possibly." Suki hesitated to speak. "Katara's going to be heartbroken. I feel so sorry for her."

"Who doesn't?" Toph said, sitting on the chair next to me.

I opened my eyes and glared at my two best friends. "What's wrong with Zuko?"

Suki and Toph looked at each other and back at me as if I had been raised from the dead. Suki spoke first. "Oh, Katara! You're okay."

"Yeah, Sugar Queen, we thought you were really gone," Toph said seriously. "You had us scared for the longest."

"I was scared myself," I said truthfully. "Where's everyone else? Where's my brother, Aang…Zuko."

Suki and Toph looked at each other again. This time Toph spoke. "Aang was here earlier with Sokka. They stayed here with you then Jet came and stayed. We all have our little rotations," she shrugged.

"Zuko?" I repeated.

"Zuko went to look for Mai," Suki said. "He hasn't come back yet."

"When did he leave?"

Toph shrugged. "Sokka said he left last night."

I pulled my feet out from under the covers. "We have to look for him, he could be in trouble. He could be—"

"Whoa there, Sweetness," Toph said, blocking me, "you're not going out anywhere."

"Toph is right, Katara," Suki said. "You need to stay here. Sokka and Jet are off looking for Zuko now with your dad and the other cops. They'll be fine."

I sat back in the bed. "Did you try to contact Zuko?"

"His line is somehow disconnected," Suki said, pulling out her phone from her purse. "We can't get to him. But you can try if you want to."

I sighed, and she handed her phone to me. I searched in the contacts for Zuko's number and quickly called him. We all waited in silence.

"_Hey you've reached Zuko—_

"Zuko, its Katara I—" I started out excitedly.

"_I'm sorry I'm not here, but if you leave your name and number, I'll get back to you as soon as poss—" _

"He's…not there," I said sadly, ending the call.

Toph put a hand on my shoulder. "They'll find him, Katara. He's out there somewhere."

I put my head back on my pillow. "Yeah, but where?"

**Meanwhile:**

"You better do this with me or…or…" Mai stuttered.

"What?" Zuko said snidely. "You've already hurt everyone I love. What are you going to do, kill me? In this situation, I actually wouldn't mind."

She scoffed, walking towards him. "I'm not going to kill you, Zuko. That would be foolish. What's the point of having you here, if I wanted to kill you?"

"I don't know what you want with me, Mai, but I didn't come here to have sex with you," he started.

"Oh, you didn't?" she purred, coming even closer to him. "Then what's the reason?"

He sat down on the sofa. "I'm just the distraction, Mai. The cops and everyone will be here soon, and you can't do anything about it."

"There can't be any cops if there isn't a distraction," she said taking out her knives. "Come with me or die."

"You wouldn't kill me, Mai," Zuko said, unfazed by the knives.

"Don't test me," Mai spat, but she was trembling. "I will do it, Zuko. I will hurt you."

He laughed softly. "No, I don't think you will."

...

***Please Read and Review. Sorry for the late update you guys, been having so much homework. Thanks for all who have reviewed and read the story!* **


	34. Chapter 34

***Disclaimer- I own nothing of Avatar: The Last Airbender**

…**..**

**Chapter 34**

**Katara's POV**

I tapped my fingers on the bed arm. I turned to look at Suki and Toph, who had ordered two boxes of Cecil Whitakers Pizza. "How long does it take to get someone? It shouldn't take that long."

"Calm down, Sweetness," Toph said, her mouth full of pizza. "They are probably coming back now."

I crossed my arms over my chest and sighed. "If they were coming back now, Zuko would've called. I know him."

Suki took a sip of her Coca Cola. "I'm with Katara, Toph. It's been 4 hours since they left. What do you think is taking them so long?"

Toph scoffed, picking up another piece of pizza. "It's Mai we are dealing with, you guys. Mai Tousling, you know the one who tried to kill Katara? Mai's probably giving them a hard time. That's my best guess."

"What do think she's doing?" I asked.

She shrugged, stuffing her mouth with pizza. "Who knows?" I frowned.

"You are unusually calm, Toph?" Suki asked curiously. "Where's Aang at? He wasn't with the guys."

"Aang…I don't know," Toph said, "The last time I talked with him was yesterday night on the phone. His 'grandfather' died." She said using air quotes on grandfather.

"Gyatso?" I asked.

"Yeah, that guy," she said. "Apparently he was the only family left that he had. And he wasn't actually family to Aang, but he was there when his parents died."

Suki sighed. "I just realized that Aang doesn't speak of his parents a lot."

"Well, what do you expect?" Toph said. "His parents died right after he was born."

"Yeah, but he still has his foster parents," I said. Toph scoffed. "Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds are so nice and loving to Aang, Toph. What do you have against them?"

She shrugged, putting her feet on the table. "Nothing, they're just so…weird. Aang could do better."

"What is better, Toph?" Suki asked.

"I guess he could come live with me," Toph said, wiping her hands on a napkin. "He would be better off with me."

"It's not like Aang lives with his parents, Toph," Suki laughed. "Besides, I don't think Aang would go for that. He might—" Suki was suddenly interrupted as the door flew right open. It was Azula.

"Where's Zuko?" She asked aloud. "I heard that he was out searching for Mai." Her eyes flickered from me to Toph to Suki. "Are you guys going to keep staring at me, or am I going to get some answers?"

"Calm down, Azula?" Toph said.

"I can't calm down," she spat. "Mai has my brother, and knowing her she will do anything to keep him with her."

"Azula, the cops, Jet, Sokka…they are all looking for both of them," Suki started, "but we haven't gotten any news back yet. I…don't know where they are."

"Have you called Zuko lately?" I asked Azula. She shook her head sadly. I bit the inside of my lip. Azula really did care for her brother. I guess Zuko was truly right. Azula has really changed.

Azula sat on the foot of my bed and sighed. Suddenly, she smiled that evil smile that she used to give someone when she was going to hurt them.

"Um…Azula, are you o—" I started.

"I know where Mai is," she said with a mischievous smirk.

"You do, where?" Suki asked.

Azula laughed softly, not a happy laugh, but a soft evil laugh. "She's at the old house down by Pickett Street. Zuko and I used to hang out there when we were kids."

"How does Mai know about that place then?" I asked.

"Mai, Ty Lee, and I used to play pranks on Zuko when we were younger," she said, standing up. "I guess you could say it was our little…tree house." She walked towards the door. "I'm going after Zuko, and when I find Mai, she's going to wish I was still insane."

"But doing this makes you seem insane," Toph pointed out.

Azula smirked. "Exactly." Toph frowned and looked at me. Azula walked out of the room with a wave.

"Um…that was different," Suki said staring at the door Azula went out of. Toph nodded, also staring at the door.

I snapped my fingers at them. "Guys, we have to go find Zuko and the others. Whatever Azula is going to do to Mai isn't going to be pretty. She could kill her."

"How is that our problem?" Toph said. "Katara, you should be agreeing with Azula right now. Mai has Zuko, and you don't know what Mai is doing to keep Zuko captive. For all we know, she and Zuko could be fu—"

"Ok, ok, ok," I said, raising my hand. "I don't think Zuko would let Mai have sex with him. But I do know that Mai will do anything to keep Zuko with her."

"So what are we going to do?" Suki asked.

"Not we, us," Toph corrected. "Katara is in no shape to do anything, better yet a rescue mission."

I breathed in deeply. "I'm not going to let you guys have all the fun."

"What fun is there, Katara?" Toph raised her voice. "Are you that stupid to realize that you could get killed? If Zuko finds out that you get killed, he'll…he'll probably kill himself. He could barely look at you when you got hurt." Toph shook her head. "No, Katara, you will stay here in the care of the nurses and doctors. Better yet," she started to take out her phone, "I'm going to call Aang and tell him to come stay with you." She dialed his number, and started to talk with him.

"Toph's right, Katara," Suki said with a kind smile. "We'll gather some more help and look for Zuko and Mai." I nodded and turned to look over at Toph.

"He said he's starting up is car now," she said. "He should be here shortly. Be safe, Sugar Queen. Don't do anything stupid." I watched them leave the room. I sat back on my bed and sighed. _Where are you, Zuko?_

**Meanwhile:**

"You scared now?" Mai asked, pressing a knife up to Zuko's neck.

Zuko chuckled softly. "Mai, you don't scare me. You wouldn't kill me, you love me too much to kill me or hurt me." She sneered and punched him in the face. New blood seared out of his bottom lip. Zuko frowned. "Was that necessary?"

Mai shrugged. "I did hurt you. I'm not scared."

He wiped his lip with the back of his palm. "I never said you were, Mai. I just said that you love me too much to kill me." She frowned slightly, hesitant to speak. "What is it, Mai? What the hell do you want from me?" She still didn't speak. "What happened to our friendship was it that bad that you had to hurt Katara?"

"Don't speak of her name in my presence!" she yelled.

"Ok, then leave," he said. "You don't have to stay, you know. You could just leave me here and let the cops look all over for you again and again."

She sat there, thinking. "They would actually do that?" The scared boy shrugged, clearly uninterested.

"What do you want, Mai?" Zuko repeated more seriously.

"I want you, Zuko," she said. "I want you to love me the way you love Katara. I want you to look at me the way you look at Katara. I want you to hold me like you hold Katara."

"I can't do that," he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"And why not?"

"You're not Katara," he said, looking out the window, "and you never will be Katara."

Mai sneered and pulled out a knife, putting it to his neck. "Get up!" Zuko didn't move, but instead slouched back in the chair. "I said get up!"

"I heard you the first time," he said tiredly.

Mai smirked. "Fine. I guess I'll just be going to the hospital buy myself. I'm sure Katara wouldn't mind a little visit from her old friend Mai, would she?" Zuko suddenly was quiet. She'd gotten him right where she wanted.

...

***Read and Review- again, sorry for the wait. I've been having a tiny bit of writers block, and homework makes it even worse. Thanks for all the review and favorite authors and story alerts. It makes my day when I see those. Thanks, again!***


	35. Chapter 35

***Disclaimer- I own nothing of Avatar: The Last Airbender***

**...  
><strong>

**Chapter 35**

**Zuko's POV Finale pt. 1**

I stared at Mai. Her face showed nothing but hatred and disappointment. "Mai, you've already hurt her once." I said, speaking of Katara.

She smirked. "I guess this time I'll have to finish what I started."

I stood up. "I won't let you."

She scoffed. "Does it look like I'm taking orders from you, Zuko? I have my own plans. I do what I want. You can't stop me."

"I will."

"You won't," she said, putting her gun inside of her jacket, "because if you try to do something to me, I swear, Zuko, I will hurt you. And don't say that I won't, because I definitely will." She grabbed her car keys off the counter and twirled them around her fingers. She looked up at me and smiled. "Oh, I guess I silenced the little Zuko."

I frowned. "Do you really think you'll get away with this?"

"I am now, aren't I," she snorted. "Besides, who's going to stop me? You aren't, and your little friends aren't either. Even if they try to stop me, I'll blow your head off before they can even tell me to freeze. Do you hear me?"

"You know what you're full of?" I told her.

She put her finger on her chin. "Hmmm, do I really care? No. Now get moving!" She pushed me towards the door, but I held back.

"We don't have to do this."

"You're right, _we_ don't, but I do. So unless you want to see Katara, I'd advise you to keep going," she said through her teeth.

I sighed. Seeing Mai like this made me so angry, and yet a little sad as well. Mai was crazy. She was the definition of a psycho maniac that wanted revenge because of someone else stole "her" boyfriend. I remember when we were kids; I used to have fun with Mai, and soon realizing that I had feelings for her later on. That Mai was the one that I liked, that was the Mai I knew and trusted. But now, Mai was in her little Azula mode, and acting like a little bi—

"Are you coming, Sozin?" she asked, interrupting me out of my thoughts.

I gritted my teeth and followed her into her car. This was going to be a long drive.

...

**Meanwhile:**

**Katara's POV**

"You know, I really hate commercials some times. Do I really need to see them while I'm in the middle of watching a good TV show?" Aang said, flipping through the TV stations. "Do you know what I mean, Katara?"

I blinked. "What? Oh, yeah sure whatever, Aang. I don't care if you change the station." He stared at me worriedly.

"I didn't—" he immediately brushed off the subject, and started a new one. "So, do you think they've found her yet?"

"Hopefully," I shrugged, "I really hope the police have dealt with her, lock her in jail, better yet, put her in the electric chair or something," I felt myself getting angry. "She needs to be handled with. Hell, I'll take her on myself. One on one."

Aang shook his head. "Revenge isn't always the answer, Katara. Sometimes you just have to forgive and forget."

"Forgive and forget?" I screeched. "Aang, she almost killed me! She's probably threatening Zuko. How can I forgive her for all the things she's done to me? She's a monster. She needs to die!"

I was suddenly startled by myself. I've never spoken like this before, and I've never been this angry before. Since my mother's death, I haven't hated someone this much. It almost pains me to feel like this.

Aang sighed, frowning deeply. "Gyatso used to tell me that revenge is like a two headed snake. While you watch your opponent go down, you get poisoned yourself."

"You don't understand, Aang," I said irritated.

"I understand completely, Katara," he said. "You want Mai just as much as she wants you. Think about it, Katara, what do want to take away from her? Is that thing that bad that you need to kill her?"

"Look, Aang, just because you choose not to give energy to the emotions of revenge, hatred or the desire to subjugate, doesn't mean that I can't," I said. "Mai, is-"

"Hurting," he said, finishing my sentence. I shook my head.

"No, no she isn't hurting, Aang," I continued to argue with him. "If she was really hurting, she would be in my position right now; in the hospital with a shoulder that was shot at by a gun."

"She is, Katara," he said. "And doing this is hurting her more. The only thing she wants is Zuko, and you know that."

"Are you telling me to give up Zuko?"

"I'm telling you to give up revenge," he said deeply. "Not everything can be fixed with fighting and killing or pain and anguish, Katara. Sometimes, for things to get worked out, you just have to forgive. Just let go of the anger and forgive—"

"I won't forgive Mai, Aang," I said, cutting him off. I sat up in my bed, crossing my arms over my chest. "I just can't forgive her. She tried to kill Zuko; she tried, and almost, killed me. She needs to be contained, Aang. How can you not see this?"

He sighed. "A water lily flower grows and dies. If someone plucks off its petals and pulls up its flower, does the lily get angry and try to kill you? No, it moves on with its life and sooner or later the flower has bloomed again into something more beautiful and more powerful than it was in its past."

I stared at him. "That's a nice analogy, Aang, but I'm not forgiving Mai. You can forget about it."

He rose up his hands in defense. "Fine, me trying to help is over. Sorry for trying." He turned his back towards the television and continued to flip through the stations as if our conversation had never happened.

It was an awkward silence between me and Aang. I've never seen Aang so uptight about anything before in my life. Aang was usually the guy who gave us good advice and told us things that we didn't like. But today it seemed as if he really didn't want me to take revenge on Mai. In his opinion, I guess he still thinks of Mai as 'that girl Zuko used to date' and not as 'that girl who tried to kill Katara'. And, in my opinion, I would think that Aang would care more for my safety than of Mai's because of the close relationship we have.

I grew up with Aang, and since the first time I met him, he was always like a little brother to me, always one of my best guy friends. But in his point of view, I was always the person he loved and cared most about. That's one reason I would think Aang would be on my side. I know he cares about me, but does he care that Mai almost killed me?

My thoughts were soon interrupted as the door shot open. Standing there in the doorway was Mai, and behind her was…Zuko!

I gasped. "Zuko, what are doing here? And with Mai?"

Mai smirked. "Oh, Katara, Katara I'm so glad to see that you've awakened. Now, you have the opportunity to see what I'm going to be doing...to you."

"Mai, you don't have to do this," Aang said stepping up to her. "Forgive, that's all you have to do, just for—" Mai pulled out her gun and wacked him aside his face. Aang fell back falling onto the floor hard. He wasn't moving.

"Aang!" I screamed. "Someone, anyone, help!"

"They can't hear you," Mai said, turning the lock on the door. "But I'll let you try again. Go ahead, yell for help. I dare you."

I looked at Zuko for help, but his eyes were cast down on the floor. "Zuko? What…what's going on?"

Mai laughed. "Zuko, my dear, is following orders. He knows that one little screw up can cost him his life or better yet…yours." I swallowed.

"Why are you…?"

"Why am I doing this?" she said, finishing my question. "Oh, for the joy of pain," she spat sarcastically. "Why do you think I'm doing this, Katara? I'm doing this for myself. I want you out of Zuko's life, and I'm doing something about it."

I tried getting up out of the bed, but pain flew up into my shoulder. I gripped at my side. Mai smirked.

"That arm giving you some trouble there, Katara?" Mai asked. "Do you want me to help?"

I swallowed. _If I could just keep her attention off me, the doctors would notice something's wrong in my room. _"What do you truly want, Mai?"

She smiled. "What does everyone want, Katara?"

"Money?"

"Money would be one of those wants," she said, pushing Zuko into a chair. He grunted, holding his elbow. _She must've hit him_, "a man who loves me would be another." She turned to give Zuko a smile.

I almost scoffed. _Zuko doesn't love you. _"Who do you have in mind?"

Mai frowned, but answered the question. "Who else would you think, Katara? If it's not Jet, or your stupid brother, or this boy," she said, staring at Aang's motionless body, "who else could it be? Oh, I know…Zuko, of course."

"Why do you love Zuko so much?"

She laughed. "Who doesn't love him? That scar, his muscular body, his deep voice. What is there not to love about him?"

I looked over at Zuko. He looked up at me. His sad, golden eyes stared into my blue eyes. They gave me a look of, _If anything happens, run away. Don't turn back for me._ I closed my eyes and sighed. I thought about what Aang had said, "…Sometimes, for things to get worked out, you just have to forgive. Just let go of the anger and forgive…"

"Mai," I said to her. She looked over at me. "I forgive you."

She was hesitant. "What do you mean, _you_ forgive me? You're the one who started this mess. You're the one who wanted to take Zuko away from me forever, leaving me in my pain of being alone," she scoffed, "_You _forgive me?"

I hardened my jaw. "Fine, if it's all my fought, then fine, just take him." I felt Zuko's eyes on me, but I didn't look at him. "If you want him so badly just take him. He's all yours."

"Katara, what are doing?" Zuko said for the first time.

Mai was in shock. "You…are you serious?" I sighed. She frowned once I didn't answer. "No, you're lying. I'm done with this." She pulled out her gun from inside of her jacket, and pointed it at Zuko. "If none of us can have him, no one will."

"Mai, don't, please!" I cried. "Just take him. Please, don't kill him. Just, please, don't kill him. I give up, you win! Don't kill him!"

She smiled mischievously. "Too late for that, Sugar Qu—" a small dart flew into Mai's neck. She looked over at me then at Zuko. "Ow." She put her hand over her neck and plucked the small dart out of her neck. She looked at the dart in her hand and then fainted.

Zuko looked over at me then at Mai's limp body. "Um…what happened?"

I shrugged. "I don't know." The door opened swiftly and in came the police, my dad, Sokka, Jet, Toph, Suki, and Azula.

"The police happened," my dad said with a smile.

**...**

***Please read and review! Thanks for all the reviews I've gotten, you guys!***


	36. Chapter 36

***Disclaimer- I own nothing dealing with Avatar: The Last Airbender***

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**Chapter 36**

**Katara's POV Finale pt. 2  
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"Dad!" I screeched happily. "What are you guys…how did you guys get here? Mai locked the door, and she said that no one could get inside."

"Katara," he said, wrapping his arms around me, careful not to crush me and my shoulder. "I'm so happy you're ok. Mai didn't do anything to you, did she?"

I shook my head. "No, she didn't. She was going to kill Zuko if he didn't listen to her, though."

We all turned to look at Zuko. He looked like a kicked puppy. He turned to look up at me. "I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you, Katara. I should've helped you, but…"

I slowly got out of the hospital bed and went towards him. He stood up and looked down into my face. I smiled at him and put my hand on his face. "Zuko, I know that you would do anything to protect me. And I know when Mai threatened you; the threat was mainly pointed on me. You did protect me, Zuko."

He turned his head away from me. "I didn't protect you. I should've stood up to Mai; I could've stopped her before she even came to the hospital. This would've, should've been over a long time ago if I would've stopped her from the beginning, the very beginning."

I looked over at the doors as the medics came running in.

"What happened to this one?" one of them asked us, looking at Aang. We all gasped. We had completely forgotten about Aang.

"Did Mai do that?" Toph yelled, running over to him. "Ok, ok, ok, ok he's alive, he's still alive. He just has a big welt on his forehead," she turned to look over at me. "Did this happen with a gun?" I nodded. The nurses went over to Aang. He was starting to wake up. The nurses checked his head.

"Must've been one big gun," Sokka said, also feeling Aang pulse in his neck. "Speaking of guns, where is the one Mai had?"

"Right here," Jet said, pulling out a police gun from out of Mai's coat pocket. "It looks like she stole a gun from the police…again."

"When was the first time?" I asked.

"She stole one back in high school," Zuko spoke up.

"Why?" Sokka asked. "What did she need a gun for?"

Zuko smirked. "As you may know, I used to be a bad boy back in high school." We all nodded, completely agreeing with him. Zuko frowned, "Ok, I was not that bad high school, you guys."

"Are you kidding me, Zuko!" my dad exclaimed, slamming his fist on the table. Everyone flinched. "You got my baby girl pregnant! And God knows how many girls you slept with before her…"

"Dad, please," I said blushing. I saw some of the nurses laughing. "It's been five years now."

"You ruined her reputation!" He continued, "And you really messed up her college life. She had to go to a community college."

"I stayed with her," Zuko said, starting to get angry. "I didn't run away like some people do."

My dad frowned. "Are you talking to me, son? I didn't leave Kya," he said, speaking about my mother. "Once she got pregnant, I had to get my thoughts together, and then I came back for her and Sokka, then Katara when she was born."

"I stayed with her too!" Zuko continued.

Hakoda shook his head and chuckled. "She could've gone to Harvard, you know. She could've had a good education, and a good degree. She got an academic scholarship, and she had to give it back because she got pregnant with your child!"

"Which is your granddaughter?" Zuko exclaimed. "You make it seem that you wish Paxton wasn't born. Do you even love her?"

"Zuko…" I started, but Zuko raised his hand, cutting me off.

"No, Katara. Your dad's been arguing with me since the day this whole thing with you in the hospital started, and I'm tired of it. If your dad has something to say, he needs to say it now."

"Katara, I know that we never really had the proper opportunity to talk about this," my dad started, "but…why? Why did this…how did this happen?"

"Do you want us to tell you the details, old man?" Toph said bluntly.

He nodded. "Actually, that would be a great idea, Toph. I didn't even get a story when Katara told me, well, when I overheard her say she was pregnant on the phone. It would be great to hear what exactly happened."

"Dad…" I started out sheepishly.

"Go on, Toph," my dad said, waving me off.

I looked over at Zuko for support, he nodded at me. "Hakoda, this isn't the proper time to talk about this. We should be discussing—"

"I'm learning about my daughter, Zuko," he said, "and how she got pregnant."

Zuko threw up his hands in exasperation. "What do you mean 'how she got pregnant?'? How do you think it happened? I put my—"

"Zuko!" I yelled, stopping him. I turned to look over at my dad, who was tapping the toe of his feet on the floor impatiently. "Dad, can't we talk about this later. Right now we have to figure out how we are going to deal with this Mai ordeal. We can't just act like nothing happened."

My father's face softened. "I know, Katara. I can't just act like nothing has happened. Mai has hurt you, and she's going to have consequences for doing that. But the other police are coming, and I can't do anything until then. Besides, the nurses and doctors are here tending her."

"And Aang," Sokka added.

Zuko sighed. "We will wait then."

"No, they will wait," my father said, pointing to the rest of us. "You and I, Zuko, are going to have a little talk about that night you made my daughter lose her virginity."

"I didn't make her do anything," Zuko mumbled.

"Speak up, son," Hakoda said.

Zuko sighed. "I said that I didn't make her to anything."

Hakoda shrugged. "So, what did you do? Did she just fall on the bed with you, and you guys just got right into it?"

"I didn't pressure Katara into having sex with me, Hakoda," Zuko said calmly. "I didn't pressure her into doing anything with me."

"Then tell me exactly what happened on that night," Hakoda said through his teeth.

"It was graduation night, dad," Sokka said.

"Graduation!" he said, getting louder.

"They were drunk, what do you expect?" Toph said, picking her fingernails. "You would've done the same thing if you were at a party drunk and you saw a cute girl who was also drunk." She looked over at me and smirked mischievously. "I mean, she also had on a short dress, too, Hakoda. Can you say, 'easy access'?" I frowned and looked over at Zuko. He was blushing.

My dad turned around, looking over at me. "You were drunk? No one told me that there was any alcohol at the graduation party."

"Apparently no one has been telling you anything these past couple years," Jet mumbled to Sokka.

"Don't get on my bad side, Jet," my dad said. "I know that you and Katara dated in middle school and in the beginning of high school. I know you have some secrets up your sleeves about what you and my daughter did together."

"Actually, sir, I nev…didn't do anything with your daughter," Jet said, correcting himself.

"No sex?" my dad questioned. Jet shook his head. "What about anything else?" Jet grunted a response incoherently. "What was that, Jet?"

"Dad, aren't we supposed to be discussing how Mai got a gun?" Sokka asked interrupting the conversation, which I was relieved about. "This bickering is getting us nowhere. The police should be coming here soon. We should want to have something ready for them when they come."

My father raised his hand, motioning for Sokka to stop talking. "Is he really that good in bed, Katara?" he said, speaking about Zuko.

"Dad!" Sokka and I both yelled.

"Stop this! This is getting us nowhere!" Zuko yelled. "Now listen, the reason that Mai had the gun was because she and I used to sell guns for money to people. She would manipulate the police and I would take their guns without them even noticing it," he sighed. "They called me the Blue Spirit because I was so quick, so cunning, and secretive. They never found out about us."

"Well, now we do," Hakoda said grimacing. "When was the last time you did it? And as in _did it_ I mean, stole guns from police officers." I rolled my eyes.

Zuko frowned. "I stopped back in high school. Once I started to date Katara, I found out that you were a cop, so that made me turn in my Blue Spirit costume. I don't know if Mai stopped or not."

"Well, she couldn't have unless this was from high school," Jet said, looking at the gun. He scoffed. "This gun is not even loaded."

"Let me see that," Hakoda said. Jet handed him the gun carefully. He stared at it intently. "It's a .40 cal Glock 22. It's a usual gun many police carry around here. Hmmm, I wonder how she got it and how long she's had it…" he trailed off. The door opened suddenly and a pile of cops came into the room. They shook hands with Hakoda and looked over at Mai, who was in the care of the nurses.

"She's out still," a policeman, whose name was Bato, said with a chuckle. "That stuff really worked didn't it, Hakoda? It worked really well."

"What was it?" Zuko asked.

"A little sedative," Bato said with a chuckle. "Your old man mixed this one up, Sokka. Did he tell you about that?"

Sokka shook his head. "No, sir."

Bato smiled. "Your dad is one of a kind." Bato turned to my dad and started to talk. The other cops went over to the nurses to look at Mai.

"What do we do now?" Suki asked.

"Azula said something about Mai," I said, looking around the room for her. "Where'd she go?"

"Must've snuck out," Jet said. "She said that she had to do something very important."

Toph scoffed. "Yeah, something important, like, someone to kill."

"What do you mean?" Zuko said, crossing his arms over his chest.

I sighed. "Azula came here to find out what had happened. Once we told here, she went looking out for you." Zuko smirked. "She was really angry at Mai, Zuko. Whatever she was doing to you, she was going to make it ten times worse when she catches up with Mai."

Zuko grunted. "I guess she's getting back into that Azula mode again."

"I hope not," Suki said, speaking for the first time. "Last time she was in that little 'faze' she almost killed us."

"All of us," Toph said. We all nodded in agreement.

My doctor, Dr. Schmidt came into the room holding a clipboard. He looked over at me and smiled. "We have a full party today, don't we?"

"Sorry, there's been a sort of case we were kind of in. The police are here wrapping it up," I said, sitting back down on my bed. "Is there something wrong doctor?"

He sighed, seeming a little hesitant to speak. "Well…we took some test when we thought you were having a heart attack."

"And…" Zuko questioned. He walked over towards me and stood next to my bed, putting his hand on my hand.

"It seems that it wasn't a heart attack at all," he said. "According to the results, it wasn't anything dealing with your heart, actually."

"What was the problem, then?" I asked.

Dr. Schmidt frowned and sat down at the foot of the bed. He took off his glasses and looked up at me and Zuko. "We ran over the test many times before we came to this conclusion." He took a deep breath and continued. "You were pregnant." We all gasped.

...

***Read and Review. I'm sooooooooooooooo sorry, guys. I had mucho writers block, and I had 2 essays I had to write, and basketball it still going one so... I'm sorry guys. Thanks for all the reviews before hand * :)**


	37. Chapter 37

***Disclaimer- I own nothing dealing with Avatar: The Last Airbender***

**...**

**Chapter 37**

**Katara's POV Finale Pt. 3, the final chapter**

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"Pregnant!" I sputtered out. The doctor nodded his head slowly as if he didn't quite understand what I had said. "How could…what…I don't remember me…"

"Many things could have happened," Dr. Schmidt said, cutting me off. "I'm assuming you don't take birth control, right?" I nodded. "That could be one of the problems we face…" his voice trailed off.

"And?"

He looked up from his clipboard. "And…I'm assuming that you and this fellow here like to have…" He looked over at Zuko.

"Sex," Toph said, helping him.

He put his hand over his face to cover up his smile. "Yes."

"How the hell did this happen?" Zuko said, raising his voice.

The doctor sighed. "Well, all I can tell you is to remember the last time it happened. Was there protection involved or did you guys just…go into it?"

"I put the condom on," Zuko said quickly. "I remember taking it out of the wrapper and—"

"You didn't," I said softly. Zuko turned his head and looked over at me.

"I did, Katara," he said. "I remember. We couldn't have forgotten, I always remember. I could've sworn I most definitely did. I couldn't, I shouldn't, I didn't forget. I'm positive that I didn't."

I frowned. "We didn't use protect. You forgot—"

"I didn't forget!" Zuko exclaimed.

I sighed. "Then tell me how I'm pregnant, Zuko? Who else could I have been with to get pregnant? Jet? Aang? No, it was you, Zuko, and you forgot, again."

I saw the doctor frown out of the corner of my eye. "When was the first—?"

"Graduation," Toph whispered to him.

"Ok, let's just say I did forget," Zuko started, "it was only like one time. Nothing should happen, right?"

I rolled my eyes. "Once can be enough, Zuko. You saw what happened at our graduation party."

Zuko sat down in the chair next to my bed. He put his head in his hands. "How could you?"

"How could I what?"

"Be pregnant, Katara, again," He put emphasis on his words. I could tell that he was thinking deeply on this subject. He ran his hand through his hair, "Couldn't this have waited?"

"You've got to be shitting me, Zuko? You're the one wants to have sex with me all the time!" I screamed at him.

"Oh, so now it's my fought, Katara?" he asked.

"You got me pregnant. This is your fault, Zuko."

"My fault?" he question again, raising his voice. "My fault? Tell me exactly how this is my fought, Katara."

"You didn't put the freaking condom on," I said. "You were so excited that you forgot the main thing. Protection."

"Well, sorry for wanting to 'make love' with my girlfriend," he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

I scoffed, crossing my arms over my chest. "Yeah, I'm sorry too."

Dr. Schmidt raised his hand, ordering us to be quiet. He put his glasses back on and looked back at the paperwork, flipping through pages casually. He chuckled lightly and looked up. "You forget the key word, Ms. Marine."

"What was that?" I said.

"I didn't say that you are pregnant, Katara," he said, shifting his glasses up onto his face. "I said that you _were_ pregnant. You're not pregnant at all anymore."

"So what are you saying?" I said, gripping my bed sheets. "Are you telling me that I had a miscarriage?"

He nodded. "It is sad and very unfortunate, but…yes. You did have one."

"She couldn't have," Zuko said loudly, gaining the attention of the police officers in the other room. My father walked into the room.

"What's going on in here?" he asked.

"I was there. I saw her having the heart attack. She…she couldn't have had a miscarriage. She couldn't have," Zuko's voice cracked.

The doctor cleared his throat loudly. "That so called 'heart attack' was actually a miscarriage. We put you, Zuko, out the room because she was starting to bleed...a lot. You may not have seen it, but I spotted it, and realized that there was something wrong. That's why you had to leave," he said, clearing his throat again. "I know that if you would've seen the blood…you would've gone ballistic. Katara then went into a state of shock, Zuko. That's why she was unconscious for a while."

"Wait, what happened?" Hakoda said, raising his voice. "My daughter had a what?"

"She had a miscarriage, dad," Sokka said softly. "But it's not like you would care about it anyway."

"I care a lot, son. My daughter just had a…a," Hakoda took a deep breath, letting the new information sink in. He turned towards Dr. Schmidt and put both of his hands on his shoulder. "Is this true, Schmidt? Did my daughter have an actual miscarriage?"

"Would I lie to you, Hakoda?" he said. "Your daughter had a miscarriage. Do I look like a person who would like to about something important like this?"

I grabbed my knees and hugged them to my chest. I put my head between them and started to cried. Zuko sat on the bed and hugged me tightly. Toph, Suki, and Sokka came up from behind him and hugged me as well. It was a sort of group hug.

"I'm so sorry, Katara," Zuko whispered into my ear, like it was his fault the miscarriage happened. "I'm so, so, so sorry that this happened to you, to _us_." Tears had started to form in his eyes. "And I know it hurts so bad, Katara, I know it does. But I'm sorry. I'm sorry for getting you pregnant, I'm sorry for yelling at you, I'm sorry for being the way I am with you. I'm sorry for just…everything. I am so sorry my love," he whispered softly. "

I wrapped my arms around his neck and sobbed into his shoulder. I never knew that losing someone you never knew could hurt so much like this. "Why did I have to lose our baby?" I cried into him. I was suddenly overcome with grief, and I could not speak any more words. Zuko held me tightly, rubbing my back in the process.

"We will get through this together," he said. I broke away from his hug. He was trying to contain his own tears. I nodded and leaned in to kiss him, hard. Tears rolled down my cheeks as his lips moved rhythmically with mine.

"Stop," Hakoda said sternly. I ignored my father and continued to kiss Zuko. "I said stop!" he said louder. He walked over to Zuko and pushed him away from me. "What's your problem, boy?"

"I don't have a problem," Zuko mumbled, wiping his eyes.

"Why do you have the nerve to kiss my daughter like that?" he asked. "Do you think she actually wants to kiss you right now? She just had a miscarriage and—"

"What is wrong with you?" Zuko said harshly. "Your daughter is in pain, and all you care about it why I'm kissing her? Maybe it's because I'm her boyfriend or just maybe, just maybe I'm trying to comfort her! Did you ever think of that?" Zuko pointed at me and continued once my dad didn't say anything else. "I love your daughter, Hakoda, and she loves me. If you haven't noticed, there's something that clicks between Katara and I! When I see her, I get excited and know that I'm about to get a kiss and a friendly hello. When I wake up, I look over at her still asleep form and say, 'I don't deserve her. She deserves someone better than me'."

"Yeah, I would agree with that," my father mumbled.

Zuko sighed. "When I kiss her, it is so cliché to say but, fireworks go off in my head, making my head spin in different directions, craving for more. When I make love to her, I know you don't want to hear it, Hakoda, but you know how it goes down in the bedroom, and that makes me go even crazier for her. Somewhere in my heart I know that she is the one for me." I swallowed and looked up at the two men that I loved. Zuko: the loving and caring, protective, hot guy that got me pregnant, again, and Hakoda: the over protective, always loving dad.

I breathed in heavily. "Is this karma or something?"

Sokka put his hand on my hand and gripped it tightly. "No, sis, life doesn't work that way; you know that as well as I do."

"Yeah and bad things happen to bad people, too," I mumbled

"You're not a bad person, Katara," they all stated simultaneously.

I sighed heavily and rolled my eyes. "Well, I am, and this…this is karma playing its role in my life."

"You've shouldn't have been screwing around," Hakoda said simply. "You basically let karma in. Karma's like, 'keep on having sex, and see what happens', well you kept having it, and here's karma messing with you." He chuckled softly, but in an angry way.

"Shut up, dad!" I snapped. "Do you not know what I'm going through right now? I just lost my fu—freaking baby! What the hell is your problem? Is there something funny?"

He started to speak. "Katara, you know that—"

"You know what?" I got up off of the bed and opened the door, "just go, dad. I really don't need you here right now. I have all the people I need already here. You're just making things worse. Go deal with the case, please." I held my hand out, motioning for him to leave. He stood with is mouth open at me.

"Come on, Katara," he scoffed, "You know that I'm just…as angry that you lost your baby as you are. I know that you are hurting right now, I know that. But it doesn't make it right when you have a hooligan boyfriend who's trying to take the place of me, Katara," I sighed and started to walk towards the door. "I love you, Katara, but I don't want anyone coming in between us."

"I don't see you as much as I used to, dad," I said. "This isn't high school. I make my own decisions whether you like it or. I'm 22 years old; I know what I'm doing. And my friends, Sokka, and Zuko are going to be there for me all the time and I'll be there for them when they need someone to lean on."

"I am here for you, Katara," Hakoda said sadly. "I just want you to want me. I don't want to have someone blocking my way from you—"

"There's no one blocking me from you, dad!" I said starting to get angry. "If you wanted to see me, you would come and see me. There wouldn't be any blocking, you'd just be there. The reason that you don't come like you used to is because of Zuko. Plain and Simple. But I don't care, I love Zuko and that's that."

"You've really gotten mature, Katara," my father said with a smile. "I think having a baby has really made you change in many ways you might and might not know. But just hear me out, Katara," he took a deep breath, and continued, "you went out against my rules and got with Zuko. When I found out that you were pregnant by him, it made me disappointed because we had a bond, and then it broke because of that whole issue. You may have thought that I was overprotective, and maybe I was, but I was doing it for you, Katara. You see what Mai was trying to do to you. I don't want anyone hurting my baby girl. And when I see you getting hurt, my fatherly powers are going to step and deal with whatever happened. I just want the best for you, Katara."

"I appreciate that, dad," I said softly. "But you have to understand that I'm not a little girl anymore. I'm an adult and I can't have my dad coming in to my life thinking he can do whatever he wants with it," he opened his mouth to speak, but I continued. "I can handle things, dad, on my own. I may need to you here and now and thank you for that. But now, I think Zuko is only person that knows what I'm going through. I mean, it was his baby, too."

My father nodded his head and smiled. "Then I guess I'll let you guys have you time alone." He motioned to the rest of them, "C'mon guys! Come help me with Mai. I think she's going to need to help with medical assistance." Sokka, Suki, Jet, Toph, and Aang followed my father out of the room, shutting the door behind them.

I sighed and turned to look over at Zuko. He smiled at me, patting the bed for me to come over to him. "Those were some nice things you said about us, Katara." He went on top of the bed and lied next to me. "I didn't think you could stick up to your father like that."

"I didn't think I had it in me either," I agreed with him. There was a slight pause before he spoke again.

"So…do you think we'll get passed this?"

I shrugged. "I don't know if I ever will. Paxton almost had another sibling, Zuko. We almost had another child."

"Remember the time before we had Paxton," he started, "and we were trying to figure out a name for her?"

"Mmhm." I said, following with a laugh. "How could I forget?"

….

**Flashback**

"_We are not naming her Zuko Jr.!" Katara screamed._

_I sighed. "Yes, we are, Katara. We already went over this plenty of times. Why can't you just go with it?"_

_She scoffed. "The last time I 'went with it' I had sex with you and now I'm pregnant."_

_This was the time where Katara's cravings were way off. We were eating squid pasta with a cheese sauce made from buffalo milk. Yeah, it tasted as bad as it sounds, and it was only the third month._

_Katara hit me with the pillow angrily. "Besides, we don't need any more Z's. Look at your family. You have, Zuko, Azula, Azulan, Sozin, Ozai—!"_

"_Don't yell! That's bad for the baby!"_

"_Oh, so now you're some expert on pregnancies?"_

"_I never said that," I retaliated._

"_Then what are you trying to say, Zuko?"_

_I sighed, changing the subject. "What do you suggest we name it?"_

_She rolled her eyes. "It's a girl, Zuko. We already went through this."_

_I scoffed. "Whoa, so you don't want a boy? His name is going to be Zuko Jr., Katara."_

"_Why do you think it's a boy?" She scowled. "I'm the one carrying her, I can feel her. We're not naming her Zuko!" _

_I grunted. "Ok, we're not naming her or him Zuko." I thought for a moment. "If it makes you happy, how about we start thinking of some girl names? What about Song?"_

"_We are not naming her after one of your many girlfriends."_

_I sighed. "So, Jin is also out the question then, too."_

"_You think?"_

"_Uh…Azula."_

"_Don't kid with me."_

"_Ok, how about—"_

"_I got it!" She raised her hand, not allowing me to speak. "How about Paxton? What do you think?"_

_My face: O-o_

_She frowned. "What? Is that not a good name?"_

_I sighed. "It's ok, I guess."_

"_You guess?" She raised an eyebrow. "Ok? How about I let you pick the middle name, Zuko?"_

_I nodded eagerly. "Uh…ok, let's choose…Gabriela. Paxton Gabriella Sozin."_

_She grimaced. "Paxton Gabriela Sozin? Don'tcha think it sounds kind of cliché?"_

"_Cliché? Katara, you said that I could pick the middle name, and that's the middle name," I said pouting._

"_That's so common."_

"_So what?"_

"_How about I just pick the names?"_

"_Don't go there, Katara. You just told me I—" I crossed my arms._

"_Just shut-up!"_

_I scoffed. "You don't mean that. That's just the hormones talking!"_

"_Hormones can't talk genius!"_

_I smiled mischievously. "I love you."_

_Her face softened. "I love you too."_

_I pointed at her as she was about to kiss me. "I told you it was the hormones! First you were all mad at me and now you just can't keep your hands off of me!"_

**End Flashback**

"You were such a jerk back then," I said with a laugh.

"Yeah, the jerk that got you pregnant, two times," Zuko said.

I hit him in the stomach and laughed. "I like this."

"What?"

"Just me and you hanging out," I said. "I wish that me and you could just go somewhere and be in peace for once. No worrying about work or Paxton or anything. It'd just be and you in a paradise."

He nodded. "I think everybody wants that, Katara. But I think that the best thing we can do is enjoy this moment we have now together. That's the best thing in my opinion." He scooted over next to me and I sat in between his legs. I rested my head on his shoulder and he put his arms around my waist, pulling me tightly in to him. He entangled his hands with mine, and I put my leg over his. I could feel his heart beat in my back, his soft breathing on my neck. And soon later, we were both fallen asleep…together.

**...**

***Read and Review, please! Ok so that's the end. Hoped you guys liked it. And yes, GameFreak you can now do you speech. But yeah, thanks for all of the comments and reviews for my story. AND….. I maybe posting another story called The Unexpected: High School Years ATLA, which is the years before this happened. So they would be in high school, and you'll kow all the stuff that's happened. So, look out for that, and I hope you enjoyed my story!* **


	38. AUTHORS NOTE

**Unexpected: ATLA**

**Authors Note**

*Ok, so there have been some, well, many reviews about how the story has ended, like, how it seems that it is missing something. And… yet I agree with some of them. When I got done with the last chapter, I felt like the story was missing something, but I didn't know what it was. I don't know what it is missing, but I really want to put something else in there to make it end more…correctly. However, some ideas would be great to start off the beginning of the end. THANKS!*

-Naomi Loves Calvin and Hobbes


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